Starting Point

About Starting Point

Starting Point is an outpatient opioid treatment program in Brooklyn, Maryland, operating within the Addiction Treatment Systems (ATS) network. Neal Berch founded ATS in 1993, and they now run clinics across Maryland and in West Virginia. Their focus is opioid addiction, including dependence on heroin, fentanyl, and prescription painkillers, treated through medication-assisted treatment combined with counseling. They take a person-centered approach and see recovery as something built through education, family involvement, self-help, and group support, with outside agencies brought in when needed.

Care centers on daily methadone or Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone), offered either as long-term maintenance or as a supervised detox. Medication is paired with individual and group counseling from licensed clinicians, drug screening, family and relationship services, and referrals to other resources. Each clinic has a program director, medical director, nurse practitioners, and nursing and counseling teams, and ATS programs are CARF-accredited. Intake is designed to be fast: walk-ins are welcome Monday through Friday, and medication can start the same day once someone is accepted. Staff keep Narcan on site and have completed overdose prevention training.