For decades, work-based rehabs have spread across the country. No one knows how many are out there, so we counted them ourselves.
American Rehab
Reveal Wins Loeb Award for American Rehab
The award, given out by UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, recognizes the most distinguished business and financial journalism.
American Rehab Chapter 8: Shadow Workforce
For decades, work-based rehabs have spread across the country. No one knows how many are out there, so we counted them ourselves.
American Rehab Chapter 7: The Work Cure
One man’s journey into Cenikor leads to almost two years of hard labor. The program will change him. But can it help Chris Koon with his addiction?
American Rehab Chapter 6: The White Vans
Before sunrise, a line of passenger vans heads to job sites across Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They carry squads of unpaid laborers.Â
American Rehab Chapter 5: Reagan with the Snap
Cenikor rises from the ashes, thanks to an inventor of NFL football pads, the war on drugs and the endorsement of an American president.
American Rehab Chapter 4: Cowboy Conman
He’s a liar, a killer and a wannabe country singer. Luke Austin creates Cenikor in the image of a cult. But graft and violence nearly destroy it.
American Rehab Chapter 3: A Venomous Snake
After building a small fortune, Synanon’s megalomaniac leader turns the revolutionary rehab into a violent cult.
The work cure
At 300 rehabs across the country, the main form of addiction treatment is work. And the participants rarely get paid.
At hundreds of rehabs, recovery means work without pay
Despite deadly injuries and multiple investigations into illegal labor practices, work-based rehabs are an American growth industry.