The Brazos Valley Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse (BVCASA) is a private not-for-profit organization founded in 1984 by Mary Mattingly, who remained as executive director until 1994.  The agencies original mission was to combat alcohol and drug abuse in Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Leon, Madison and Robertson counties.  Initial funding was received from the Texas Commission on Alcoholism, which later became the Texas Commission on Alcohol & Drug Abuse (TCADA), in the amount of $12,000 to start a council.  The agencys first office was at 106 Williamson Dr., Bryan, TX.  The agency remained in that location for 2 years.  Following a 6 month hiatus in Mrs. Mattinglys home, BVCASA moved to a one-room office at the AcademicVillage on College Main.  That year, 1987, BVCASA hosted the first Just Say No Rally at the CarterCreekShopping Center in Bryan.  The Rally became an annual event for area youth, providing art contests, a battle of the bands and numerous other activities focused on drug prevention.  In 1988 the First March on Drugs was held in conjunction with the Just Say No Rally with guest speaker Loniese Bias, mother of former basketball giant, Lynn Bias who died of a cocaine overdose.  During year four, the agency moved again to a small office site on Meadow lane in Bryan. 

It was during this period that Ms. Mattingly helped the agency achieve United Way status.  Additional funding for implementation of the Heres Looking at You II curriculum, a $46,000 grant from TCADA, was also awarded.  Further help came from the City of College Station and City Councilman Fred Brown with funding for the Straight Talk Hotline.  The project was unique in that it was the only hotline answered by trained volunteers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  The Straight Talk Hotline would later become a Texas Best program, as would the New Beginnings Program, a womens outpatient treatment program.  Years four and five brought additional funding and another move to the Broadmoor site where the agency flourished providing screening, assessment, and referral services coupled with prevention, intervention and an outpatient treatment program for youth and adult females. 

In 1990, BVCASA provided the first workplace intervention initiative with Project REACH, a modified employee assistance program that offered intervention for adults testing positive on company drug screens.  Another milestone was reached with the implementation of the Red Ribbon Campaign.  Beginning as the Just Say No Rally, the movement began to take form, establishing itself as a major initiative both in local schools and at BVCASA.  The agency initiated the first Enrique Camarena award beginning in 1989 with the award being presented to then Sgt. Dale Cuthbertson of the Bryan Police Department.  The Camarena award has been given each year to the outstanding law enforcement officers in Brazos and the outlying counties since that time. 

BVCASA also became the first practicum site for those individuals seeking their license as chemical dependency counselors.  Beginning with the training required for the Straight Talk Hotline, the two projects were combined to provide cutting edge education on crisis resolution, as well as specific areas of education required for certification and licensure. 

Over the years BVCASA has hosted numerous volunteer opportunities, at one point enlisting more than 50 Straight Talk Hotline volunteers.  An Outstanding Leadership Award Dinner was begun in 1991 to recognize local leaders in the field of alcohol and drug abuse prevention.  The award was entitled, The Illuminaries Award and was first given to Dr. Don Sweeney for his outstanding work throughout the region in substance abuse prevention.  By 1990 BVCASA had grown to an operating budget of approximately $950,000. 

One of Ms. Mattinglys dreams for the agency had always been the establishment of a detoxification center and expanded womens treatment services.  She applied for and received additional funding for a specialized womens outpatient treatment program and the Therapeutic Treatment Community (TTC).  But it would be many years before the dream of a detoxification center would be realized.  Following a collaborative venture with the Texas A&M Public Policy Research Institute, BVCASA received a Center for Substance Abuse Prevention grant to form the first Brazos County Community Prevention Coalition (BCCP).  The grant boosted the agencies budget to $1.2 million annually.  BCCP broke away from BVCASA in 1994, forming its own not for profit organization with the mission to provide cutting edge prevention services to the youth of BrazosCounty.  Ms. Mattingly left the agency to join BCCP, which became U&I CAN, to further her goals of prevention service enhancement for the youth of BrazosCounty.  During her tenure as Executive Director, BVCASA grew from an agency with an annual budget of $12,000 to one of $1.2 million with more than 45 grants and contracts applied for and won.

Between 1984 and 1994, BVCASAs Board of Directors included many local leaders in the field of substance abuse prevention and treatment.  Generally serving a two-year term, the first President of the Board was Roland Searcy, a local attorney.  He was followed by Mr. Roy Baas, Dr. Donald Sweeney, Mr. Davis McGill, David Branham, Rosemary Raines-Hoyt, David Branham, Jay Goss, Joe Foster, Reed Edmondson, Larry Johnson and David Patterson

In late 1994, BVCASA obtained a new executive director, Clint Hawes.  Mr. Hawes remained in the position of ED until 1996.  Mr. Hawes increased the service area to include WashingtonCounty.  In 1996 BVCASA was awarded the Prevention Resource Center Grant to provide alcohol, tobacco, and other drug clearinghouse services to the thirty counties of Health & Human Services Region 7.  This grant increased the agencys annual budget to approximately $1.5 million.  Mr. Hawes was followed by Gloria Matthews, who served with the agency in the position of executive director from 1997-1999. 

In 1999, the board hired Mr. James Robinson, Sr. as the Executive Director.  Under Mr. Robinsons direction, the agency received another new grant from TCADA.  The Community Coalitions Program grant allowed BVCASA staff to reach out to individuals within their communities to form local coalitions to address alcohol and drug issues that were important to them.  During this time the Womens Transitional Treatment Facility (WTTC) was also established as a transitional phase for women proceeding back into their communities from within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice System.  These additional services provided by BVCASA skyrocketed the annual budget to near $2.5 million.  With this addition of services and complexity of the agency, a co-executive director was appointed in 2000, Ms. Ina Jekel.

In an effort to consolidate services within the BVCASA system, in April of 2000, two agency sites were moved into one facility within the HorizonBuilding in downtown Bryan.  For the first time treatment, prevention and intervention services, as well as agency operations, were located within the same building.  Mr. Robinson left the agency in the summer of 2000, leaving the role of executive director to Ms. Jekel.  Residential treatment services were added late in the year of 2000, providing the area with the only 30-day in-patient treatment facility within the Houston, Austin, and Waco triangle.

Mr. Benton Carey assumed the role of Executive Director in 2001.  Under his guidance the agency has achieved stability.  Mr. Carey developed new programs to include residential services and detoxification services.  However, residential services, as well as the detoxification center were closed in 2004. 

Since 2004, BVCASA prevention services have grown and redirected programs under various categories:  They are Youth Prevention Universal (YPU), Youth Prevention Selective (YPS), Youth Prevention Indicated (YPI), and the Community Coalition Program (CCP).  Each program provided incorporates a curriculum that has been approved by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association (SAMHSA) as scientifically-based programs, meaning that the programs have been field-tested to insure successful outcomes if fidelity to the original curriculum is maintained.  These programs have also been approved by the Texas Education Association (TEA) and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). 

In addition,BVCASA currently provides the state authorized Minor in Possession (MIP) Program, the state approved Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) Program, an intensive educational program for both youth and adults entitled Choices Not Chances developed by BVCASA staff, and Burleson County Screening (Telehealth) and Madison County Screening (Telehealth) contracts. 

In 2009, BVCASA received funds for the PreventionResourceCenter(PRC) for Region 7 and the Pregnant & Postpartum Intervention Program (PPI).  The PRC was previously housed at BVCASA for 6 years but was lost due to a technical issue with TCADA (DSHS).  The PPI program is new to the agency and our community.  In addition, we have received a Tobacco Smokeless Rural (TSR) grant.  An additional Telehealth screening contract is also in the works with Madison and Leon counties.

BVCASA is funded in part by the Texas Department of State Health Services (formerly the Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse), the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and Brazos County United Way.  Additional funding is received from local donations, contributions and contracts.  BVCASA provides services to Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Leon, Madison, Robertson and Washington counties. 

Current treatment services include adult and youth outpatient treatment, specialized youth cannabis treatment, the Mens Therapeutic Treatment Community, the Womens Therapeutic Treatment Community, the Substance Abuse Counseling Program and the  Supportive Outpatient Continuum of Care.

This year, BVCASA will celebrate its 25^th year of substance abuse prevention, intervention and treatment service provision to the Brazos Valley Region.