History:

Founded in 1977 by Rochester businessman George Huther, Jr., himself a recovering alcoholic, Huther-Doyle was the first agency in western New York to implement a “family systems” approach to the treatment of chemical use/dependency. The agency has gained widespread recognition for its innovative and successful approach to providing early intervention in the addiction process. Over the past two decades, Huther-Doyle has introduced adolescent outpatient treatment, HIV-specific chemical dependency treatment and enhanced outpatient services to the Rochester community. In 2004, the agency launched an initiative to transition from traditional abstinence-based treatment to the research based Motivational Enhancement and Cognitive Behavioral Change approaches that have proven very successful in assisting chemically dependent individuals regain control of their lives.

Recognizing that many City of Rochester residents in need of and desiring treatment services could not easily access them, the Board of Directors decided to relocate corporate offices and clinical operations to an urban location in 1992. Since that time, the agency has grown to become the largest freestanding outpatient chemical dependency treatment center in the region. The agency serves more than 1,000 people annually. Most of the clients are low income and many lack health insurance coverage. More than 60% of agency clients are African-American or Hispanic, and the agency has made a commitment to maintain a staff that is representative of those we serve. Huther-Doyle was one of the first area agencies to implement a continuum of Spanish-language treatment and support services. The agency was one of the first partners in the Rochester Drug Treatment Court and maintains a Drug court caseload of approximately 85 individuals.

Through its clinics, the agency offers assessment and referral; abuse groups; intensive outpatient therapy (individual and group); aftercare services; family and codependency groups; vocational counseling; daily living skills education and a child activities’ center; interventions, prevention and community education programs and HIV prevention education and testing. The Prevention Services Department coordinates the Rochester Drug Summit’s House-By-House street outreach project that was designed to reduce drug-related crime and neighborhood decline within the City’s crescent. The Department also runs the State Health Department anti-tobacco program, Reality Check, in Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne and Yates counties and maintains both a central and mobile resource center that provides materials and support to parents and community leaders on topics related to prevention and early intervention.

The agency’s clinics are fully certified by the State of New York Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services. A volunteer Board of Directors oversees the agency. The agency merged with Prevention Partners in 2003, becoming the first area agency to combine prevention and treatment services into a seamless continuum.

Huther-Doyle is a service driven organization, dedicated to developing and providing services needed by chemically dependent individuals and their significant others. Programs are offered at three locations in Monroe County: The Piano Works Mall in East Rochester, East Avenue in the City of Rochester and Pre-Trial Services Corporation on West Main Street in Rochester. The management team, consisting of the Directors of each operating Department, reviews operations annually to ensure programs remain effective and address current community needs.