Root Center Celebrates Expanded Teen and School-Based Services

September 1st, 2026

Manchester, CT – April 13, 2022 – The Root Center for Advanced Recovery, one of Connecticut’s leading mental health and substance-use treatment organizations and oldest nonprofit agencies, has been increasing its “footprint” in teen services to help address a growing mental health crisis and record overdose deaths among teens nationwide. A March 2022 CDC report put forth that 4 in 10 teens (40%) reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless, with 1 in 5 (20%) saying they have contemplated suicide. A study released by JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) on April 12, 2022, reported that teen overdose deaths more than doubled from 2010 to 2021, jumping from 518 to 1,146 deaths annually.

To help support the growing community need, the Root Center has expanded its IOP (Intensive Outpatient Program) services, for both in-person and virtual treatment, as a way to provide more comprehensive mental health and/or addiction treatment. The organization has also initiated collaborations with numerous high schools in the region to support their need for more on-site clinical staff support due to the burgeoning crises. Through these school partnerships, the Root Center will be providing expert clinical staff at the schools to help support students on their “road to recovery.” And when those teens need more, the Root Center will be there, leveraging our 10 clinic locations across the state to support those teens that require intensive services outside of the school environment.

“We feel strongly about impacting our community in ways that can invoke change and recovery” said President & CEO Steven Zuckerman. “As behavioral health needs continue to change, our organization will continue to adapt to enhance and expand our clinical treatment service offerings, and become an even richer resource for our community.”

Root Center for Advanced Recovery is a holistic behavioral health center, headquartered in Manchester, CT, that serves over 5,500 patients each day. Root Center offers an array of treatment services for adolescents and adults with mental health and substance use disorders; services include medication assisted treatment, intensive outpatient programming, day treatment programming, outpatient therapy services, both in-person and virtual, and school-based services. Root Center began serving the community in 1871, and continues to create relationships that empower clients and support change. Center locations include Bristol, Hartford, Manchester, Middletown, New Britain, New London, Norwich, Torrington, and Willimantic.

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