Nicasa Behavioral Health Services celebrates 50 years

Editor's note: This story has been updated to say NICASA provides behavioral health counseling services at the Round Lake High School school-based health center, which is operated and staffed by the Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center.

For 50 years, Nicasa Behavioral Health Services has created services that promote healthy lifestyles and build brighter futures.

Their focus is substance abuse treatment programs, in-school programs, mental health services, parent education classes, and more.

Started as a one-person effort, the Lake County nonprofit organization has grown to eight facilities and nearly 100 employees who offer an array of services to teens, adults and families.

"As the need in the country and the need in the county is growing, Nicasa keeps growing and innovating to meet the needs," said Bruce Johnson, executive director at Nicasa.

An example of that first happened in 1972 when Nicasa adapted its services to be bilingual and bicultural to help serve the area's growing Latino population. That year, Johnson said, the organization also opened its first coed residential halfway house called the Bridge House. About 4,000 individuals have received help there in its history.

Johnson credits much of its success to its partners. Nicasa provides behavioral health counseling services at the Round Lake High School school-based health center, which is operated and staffed by the Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center.

"It's a great example of integrating the Lake County Health Department and a nonprofit provider in a location to really serve the health care needs, primary care, mental health, substance abuse, behavioral health care of, in this case, students," he said.

Another innovation took place in 1996 when Nicasa opened a teen court program. Working with 17 police departments and the Lake County Sheriff's Office, the program is designed to give first-time youth offenders an opportunity to stay out of the court system, but also learn from their mistakes by being judged by their peers.

"They need to make it right for that victim so there is a behavior change," Johnson said.

During its history, the services offered have helped hundreds of thousands of men, women and children. More than 12,000 youth received substance abuse treatment and education. And more than 6,000 parents developed skills to help their children develop healthy lifestyles through Nicasa's parenting programs.

However, Johnson adds that what's important for their clients to remember is they can always come back if they or their family needs help ever again.

"As many programs as we have, we want to offer that, and if we don't, we refer to one of the wonderful social service partners we have in the county," he said. "It's about collaborating and bringing those resources together that we all have."

To get to 50 years is significant, particularly as a nonprofit organization.

Jim Snow, president of Nicasa board, said it can be difficult to offer all these services because sometimes you have to beg and coerce to receive the needed funds. Snow said it is the people who work with Nicasa who have driven the organization's success.

"It is the people and their predecessors who have provided the services, this counseling and guidance that has allowed people in Lake County to turn their lives around," he said.

Nicasa Behavioral Health Services invites the public to join as they plan events throughout the year to celebrate this milestone. The next event will be a gathering Sept. 30 at the Doubletree in Mundelein. Open houses also will provide opportunities for supporters to join the celebration.

Johnson said Nicasa is hopeful and excited to look toward the future and to continue offering programming to serve the evolving needs of individuals and families.

"We're a nonprofit that is looking forward to meeting the needs of northern Illinois, Lake County and beyond for the next 50 years," he said.

For more information about Nicasa and its services, visit its website at www.nicasa.org.