Arizona Women’s Recovery Center

This recovery center failed to address my concerns and instead dismissed them without genuine consideration. When I raised the issue of being disrespected by one of their counselors in front of a class, I was met with gaslighting rather than understanding or accountability. Despite my consistent cooperation, attendance, and communication, the center discharged me without providing a clear or valid reason. I believe this decision was unfair and unprofessional, and it reflected more on the staff’s biases than on my conduct or progress as a client. Not one staff member from the center has reached out to follow up or address my concerns, and there has been a noticeable lack of accountability. The new intern, Lauren, frequently smiles or appears cheerful when clients are deeply upset, which felt dismissive of my struggles. Throughout my time there, I observed that staff support seems to favor other employees over clients. It appears that the level of care may depend on compliance with staff, which could leave clients who question or disagree feeling unsupported. Since my discharge, my mental health has deteriorated. I have struggled to maintain stability and have reverted to unhealthy coping mechanisms. This experience has left me feeling hopeless and discouraged about seeking further treatment. I believe the actions of this facility were unprofessional, unethical, and potentially harmful to clients’ well-being. I’m sharing this experience in hopes that future clients will be treated with the respect, transparency, and compassion that everyone in recovery deserves.

In 2016, I was a newly single mother. My son was 2 months old at the time. I was get overwhelmed. Another mother offered to take my son. Little did I know the incident that unfolded that day. According to this mothers room mate, the mother was by herself for about 10 minutes unsupervised in her room before my child started crying. The mother ran to the roommate complaining of a bruise on my child's inner thigh. Roommate instructed this mother to get staff. The mother got a staff member and they said they would take care of it. At that point my child was returned back to me. No staff member or this mother ever mention anything to me. It wasn't until a few days later, all 6 girls ended up in a group session jumped me. I was crying hysterically as I didn't know anything. Then cps showed up and started investigating a week or 2 later. It wasn't until a tdm meeting that my baby was taken. I did notice the bruise and found out it was a birth mark. The birth mark took a year and a half to go away. I have pictures of it. In 2017/2018, I reached out to the roommate of this mother. This individual told me the story of what happened. And did know they were aware of bringing it up in the group session and was planned between all the girls to confront and jump me. She also stated she believed that this mother on purpose did pinch my sweet baby as she had an issue with me. She apologized for participating. She also stated shortly after i left, she was kicked out. I ended up leaving because this program was forcing me to talk about my feelings right after they allowed my baby to be taken. To this day, the mother who injuried my baby has been arrested for drug possession and domestic violence. Her own children has been in cps custody multiple times due to putting them in harms way. On the other hand, I did watch girls get kicked out for being on certain medications. This program guaranteed me to find housing if I couldn't stay and teach me life and parenting skills. I never learned any life or parenting skills. And when I left I couldn't come back for my stuff. And was left homeless. When I did get my stuff is was only a quarter of what I brought into that place. I found out later on from a old staff member, they took all the baby stuff my family got him and let the girls pick what they wanted and put the rest into storage. They stole over $500 worth of baby items. My family was pissed. To this day I don't recommend this place to anyone. Those girls I lived with only 3 out of 6-10 of them actually made it and still ha custody of their kids. In 2016, they only had 1 graduate. in 2017, they had 2 graduates. I haven't heard of a graduate since. Mostly it's mom's getting kicked out. Also they had a NP for a doctor which overdid medication turns out I didn't need any medication at all. UPDATE: I requested my file. I found that the only time things were reported during meetings only. These issues were not documented in writing such as daily reports. No incident reports were ever put in my file. They didnt report 6 months worth of issues. Their cps report was 6 months worth of issues. That was not present at the time. They only reported when i wanted to leave the program. They made a second report after i volunteeringly checked myself out of the hospital and refused to talk to them. They made a plan to get rid of me. By taking away my baby then wouldnt let me come back. Stole over $500 worth of baby items my family bought for my son. They couldn't find out what was wrong with me. Then they got a report done and never gave me the documents. They also was getting hospital information from the nurses without an ROI signed. So HIPPA violations. In reality my baby should of never been taken. I also talked to central registry about my background with cps. They saw several red flags. After almost 8 years, they have opened an investigation on both cps cases i had opened and specific individual or individuals to get to the bottom of things. They were even questioning everything.

I’m writing to express deep concern about how I’ve been treated by this program. I was told I may be denied supportive housing because my medical condition was misinterpreted as a behavioral issue. During group sessions, I sometimes need to get up briefly to get water. This is not a matter of defiance — it’s a direct result of my prescribed medication, which causes dryness and makes it difficult to speak. Instead of being understood or accommodated, I was treated as if I was being disruptive. Holly had promised me a water bottle to help with this issue, but I never received one. This might seem small, but it mattered a lot — I’m currently homeless and couldn’t afford to buy one myself. It was supposed to be a simple accommodation that could have helped me fully participate. The way this was handled made me feel powerless, misunderstood, and dismissed. It’s painful to know that a program meant to support people could deny someone over something as basic as the need for water. It felt like my basic needs and dignity were overlooked, and that my medical challenges were turned into a reason for exclusion instead of an opportunity for compassion and support. I truly hope this situation is reviewed carefully, and that future participants receive the understanding and reasonable accommodations they deserve.