MERIT Resource Services

About MERIT Resource Services

MERIT Resource Services is a nonprofit outpatient addiction treatment provider with an office in Pasco, Washington, part of a network of clinics serving communities across Central Washington. They were founded in 1979 as The Valley Alcohol Council, the first outpatient alcohol and drug treatment provider in the lower Yakima Valley. Their CARF-accredited programs treat dependence on alcohol, marijuana, opioids, benzodiazepines, stimulants, hallucinogens, inhalants, sleeping pills, and other substances, with attention to co-occurring behavioral health needs. Care spans assessments and referrals, intensive outpatient, standard outpatient, telehealth, and relapse prevention and aftercare for both adults and adolescents.

Treatment starts with an in-depth evaluation, after which a counselor or care manager builds a goal-based plan with the client and, when possible, their family. Most people begin with IOP three evenings a week for about three hours a session over six to eight weeks, plus a weekly family counseling night, then step down to outpatient groups of roughly 90 minutes once or twice a week. Progress is measured against the six ASAM dimensions, and anyone who relapses can be reassessed and placed back into the right level of care. Services are available in English and Spanish, and MERIT also handles alcohol and drug information school, deferred prosecution evaluations, drug court participants, and employee and student assistance programs.