YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Employers struggling to fill open positions are partnering with agencies on substance abuse issues so they can retain and hire qualified workers.
Providers of employee assistance programs (EAPs) in the Mahoning Valley say demand for their services has increased in recent years.
Nationwide, anywhere between 5% and 7% of all workers take advantage of EAPs, Natasha Cramer, employee assistance program counselor at Meridian HealthCare in Youngstown, says. “I’m busier now than I probably was five years ago,” she affirms.
On Demand Occupational Medicine in Austintown is “definitely” experiencing increased demand for EAP services, says Ruth Bowdish, managing director.
At least part of the demand for EAPs can be attributed to the need to fill vacant positions, according to Jeff Magada, founder and executive director of Flying High Inc. in Youngstown, which partners with local treatment providers.
A recent community needs assessment conducted by Goodwill Industries put the local labor force participation rate at 57% – significantly below the state and national average of 63%.
That has led to a greater emphasis on helping underutilized and underserved populations – including individuals who are recovering from addiction – become job ready, he says. There also is additional pressure to grow the local workforce to fill positions created by new opportunities.
A decade ago, the emphasis in workplaces had been on zero tolerance policies when employees failed drug tests, Bowdish says. That position is being reassessed because of the “far reaching” impact of the opiate epidemic on workplaces – affecting longtime employees, management and even C-suite.
“Addiction isn’t going to care what your job title is,” she says. Seeing more of the effects of addiction on communities has “opened up employers to the idea that maybe supporting recovery and supporting people in recovery is not just good business practice, but it’s also helping communities as a whole.”
Recovery to Work
Around 2018, working class people were becoming addicted to painkillers, creating issues with worker reliability and attendance, Flying High’s Magada says. That led Flying High to develop its “recovery to work” program, a process that begins after clients have gone through the detox, residential treatment and outpatient treatment phases.
Since 2017, Flying High has helped approximately 1,000 individuals secure employment – roughly 650 of whom went through the Recovery to Work process, he says.
“It’s a safety issue. It’s turnover. It’s production. It’s all that,” Theresa Berkenyi, workforce development director at Compass Family and Community Services in Youngstown, says. Compass, which is merging with Community Corrections Association, has substance use counselors at its Warren center, one of whom does EAPs with other agencies and businesses.
“Substance abuse is pretty prevalent in Trumbull County,” she acknowledges. “It seems that [from] a lot of the statistics we’ve seen it’s more prevalent in Trumbull County than in Mahoning County.”
Flying High gets involved at the aftercare phase, when clients are able to “begin the process of reinventing their lives,” Magada says.
“They can come to us at any phase, but we will start moving them through the recovery-to-work process when they are in aftercare,” he says. “Their emotions are a little more in check. The drug isn’t having that sway on their mind.” At that stage, they also can participate in skills training or be safely placed in a work environment.
Cutting Insurance Costs
The employee assistance program is Meridian HealthCare’s “biggest program to support employees,” according to Natasha Cramer, employee assistance program counselor. The main reason that companies support such programs is they represent a good return on their investment.
“EAPs have historically helped companies cut down on insurance costs because the employees are not utilizing their health insurance. They’re coming to an employee assistance program first,” Cramer says. EAPs also offer “an additional layer of support” by involving “an unbiased third party” to determine what is going on with the employee and provide additional support.
On Demand Occupational Medicine in Austintown offers drug testing services to identify substance abuse issues with employees. It also has two employee assistance professionals who are substance abuse professionals as well, Bowdish, says.
On Demand’s EAP is a company-sponsored program that is separate from the employer’s insurance. The employer can either pay annually or on a per-event basis.
“We partner with companies and organizations to provide services that are company sponsored and that are kept completely confidential,” she says. “We may ask permission from the employee to let their employer know that they did arrive, and if there is an assessment or follow-up recommendation, but that was that’s always done with the employee’s permission.”
Compass has 20 direct contracts for local employers in Trumbull County but also serves several more via national EAP companies that allow it to serve local employees of national or international firms, Berkenyi says. It sees about 100 employees or members of employee households annually.
Self-referrals are far more prevalent than mandatory or supervisory referrals, Berkenyi says. Clients can come in for confidential substance use counseling or participate in group sessions with peers. Addiction treatment is provided by partners such as Meridian and On Demand.
Many employers will let employees work while they are going through recovery and Meridian tries to accommodate that work schedule, Cramer says.
“We don’t want to take away a person’s opportunity to work. That’s a big recovery capital for them,” she says. Employees’ return to work can come with a lot of stress that could represent triggers for substance abuse, “so it offers support during a period of integration.”
Meridian’s client employers include Starr Manufacturing in Vienna Township.
“It’s been very helpful in several instances over the years,” Dale Foerster, vice president, says “It’s been very helpful to the employee to have someone to talk to, that can help the employee work through the process.”
Seeing Potential
Coleman Employment Services has three employment specialists, one of whom focuses on individuals with substance abuse, says Ken Penix, chief officer of employment service.
Kent-based Coleman helped 234 individuals in recovery seek work from October 2023 to May 2025 in Trumbull, Mahoning, Belmont, Harrison, Monroe and Jefferson counties. The effort is part of its Recovery to Work project with the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Trumbull Mental Health Recovery Board.
Most individuals with substance abuse disorders are “pretty high functioning,” he reports.
“So, what we’re doing is giving them job leads and helping them talk to the employer to secure the job,” he says. If both the client and the employer approve, Coleman representatives remain in touch in case they can provide any assistance down the road.
Companies sometimes use Meridian’s program to help prospective employees with high potential battle substance abuse, Cramer says.
On Demand does as well.
“In our role, when an individual tests positive for a drug screen, some employers give them an opportunity to come and talk to us, and then we can make the appropriate determination to see what level of care they might benefit from,” Bowdish says.
As a drug-testing provider, On Demand provides education for both employees and supervisors, and helps to write workplace drug policy, Bowdish says.
“We also encourage organizations to connect with their local resources,” including county boards and community-based recovery organizations, to provide information to their employees about what help is available, Bowdish says. In addition, her company works with employers to establish substance abuse recovery-ready workplaces.
Legalization of Pot
Meridian’s Cramer points to marijuana as one of the factors behind increased demand for workplace programs. Ohio voters approved adult recreational use in 2023 but employers – especially ones whose employees operate heavy equipment – still have policies in place.
Unlike with many substances, an observer can’t always tell that someone is high on marijuana, Cramer says.
“If you’re a daily smoker, you’ve obviously built up a tolerance to that,” she says. Also, because marijuana remains in the system longer than other drugs, determining where a person falls on that “continuum of impairment” is difficult.
Employers “absolutely” are seeing more issues related to marijuana because it is now legal and remains in a person’s system for a long time. “If somebody is an active recreational smoker, especially if that person is a little bit larger, with marijuana being stored in their fat cells, it could take them a very, very long time to pass a drug screen at certain levels,” Compass’s Berkenyi says.
“We often tell [clients] you can’t come to work drunk, right? So, you can’t come to work high,” she says. “So many people who do smoke recreationally don’t see it that way… They see it as smoking a cigarette, but it’s not. It has a substance in there that is going to impair your ability, and employers do not want that.”
Pictured at top: Theresa Berkenyi, workforce development director at Compass Family and Community Services.