Western Arkansas Counseling and Guidance Center Fort Smith

Western Arkansas Counseling and Guidance Center is an outpatient addiction treatment center and community mental health clinic in Fort Smith, Arkansas that serves all ages with counseling and medication assisted treatment for opioid use disorder.

Services also include dual disorder care and case management. They are the safety net behavioral health provider for a largely rural six county region with a financial model that ensures cost does not block access.

Flexible Treatment Payment Assistance

Western Arkansas Counseling and Guidance Center operates as the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic for Crawford and Franklin, Logan and Polk, Scott and Sebastian counties which is a catchment the organization itself describes as mostly extremely rural.

Across this territory they run nine locations. Telehealth and a 24 hour crisis line is available at each site.

The center does not turn any client away because they cannot pay and accept Medicaid and Medicare, VA funds and most major private plans with a sliding fee scale that is based on income. This is the only option for some in these rural western Arkansas areas.

A client who is uninsured or on Medicaid is more likely to be accepted here.

Adolescent and Court Ordered Programs

The center offers specialized addiction treatment programs for adolescents ages 13 to 17 which includes school based services that place therapists onsite for counseling and medication management plus case management focused on social and daily living skills.

One reviewer noted being "impressed by how many services were available for young people."

It also administers a court ordered education program for DUI and DWI offenders. This gives a single point of contact for clients whose treatment begins with a legal mandate rather than a voluntary call.