STEPHEN K VALLE, ScD, MBA

Dr Stephen K Valle (photographed with lookalike!) is president of AdCare Criminal Justice Services (ACJS) in Worcester, Massachusetts. He has been a pioneering leader in the alcohol, drug abuse, and mental-health field for over 25years.  He was instrumental in creating one of the US’s most successful treatment models for drunk driving offenders, as well as other innovative treatment programmes for hospitals, addiction treatment centres and criminal justice settings.

In 1993, Dr. Valle received one of the highest honors in his profession, being nominated by Senator Harold E. Hughes to serve as director of the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in the Clinton Administration.

As a licensed psychologist and certified addictions counsellor, he is recognised for his outstanding leadership in the development of national standards for the alcohol and drug abuse field.  Dr Valle has served as president of the National Commission for the Accreditation of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselor Credentialing Bodies for six years, and has been a nationally recognised consultant providing technical assistance to treatment centres, hospitals, prisons/jails and other agencies in the criminal justice system.

Dr. Valle is the author of over a dozen journal articles, author of Alcoholism Counseling: Issues for an Emerging Profession, and editor of Drunk Driving in America: Strategies and Approaches to Treatment. He has served as associate editor of the Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, as well as holding several editorial review assignments for leading professional journals.

Before joining AdCare, Dr Valle was chief of psychology and programme director for an 80-bed addiction treatment hospital for ten years, provided consulting services to leading medical institutions throughout the country such as the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and operated several community-based and institutional treatment programs. 

As the founder and president of Valle Associates and Right Turn Inc, Dr Valle created Accountability Training®, a public safety treatment model designed especially for use with substance abuse offenders in the criminal justice system.  His model has been applied in domestic violence programs, boot camps, in-prison therapeutic community programs, and in various courts, community corrections and criminal justice settings.  Programmes under his leadership, have provided specialised programs for youth, men, and women in various criminal justice settings in several states including, Massachusetts, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, and Pennsylvania.

Dr Valle has received numerous awards from the addictions and mental health treatment field including:

• 1996 Better Government Competition Award, presented by the Pioneer Institute, a public policy think tank located in Boston, Mass. for his article Right Turn: Getting Tougher and Smarter with Repeat Drunk Driving Offenders.
• 1988 South Shore Chamber of Commerce (MA) Community Service Award, Quincy District Court, Mass.
• 1986 Distinguished Service Award, presented by the National Commission on Accreditation of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors Credentialing Bodies.
• 1986 NAADAC Outstanding Achievement Award, presented by the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors
• 1984 Massachusetts Association of Alcoholism Counselors Outstanding Achievement Award, presented for his work in the development of National Standards for Counselors by the Massachusetts Association of Alcoholism Counselors
• 1982 NAADAC Outstanding Achievement Award, presented by the National Association of Alcoholism Counselors and Drug Abuse Counselors for advancement of credentialing and reciprocity processes and programmes.

Dr Valle’s lifelong commitment to people with addiction problems is known by all who have come into contact with him, professionally or personally. In 1996, he converted his former home into a sober residence and founded the Grace House in Lynn, Massachusetts. Grace House was the first male and female sober house for homeless and recently released offenders with addiction problems in Massachusetts.