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Approximately 7 years ago, I began my professional career in the Drug and Alcohol treatment field in an entry-level capacity with a relatively large and well-respected organization. I was 21 years of age and eager to learn and grow within the ranks of the organization. I was grateful that I was given the opportunity to be amongst experienced staff that were willing to teach me how to deliver services to the vulnerable populations that were served by this organization. At that time, I had absolutely no idea of the professional journey I would be embarking on.

As time went on, my commitment to the organization’s core values, philosophy, and vision/mission statements were matched by the management’s commitment to continue to expand my skill set. I also took it upon myself to reinvest in my pursuit for Higher Education and returned to college to complete my Undergraduate Degree. By the time I had been employed with the organization for 3 years, I had been promoted twice. The first time was to a higher counselor position and the second time was to a position in which I became the liaison between the individuals being served and the funding sources. Until the time I moved into that position, I was relatively clueless about the monetary aspects of treatment, but it broadened my perspective tremendously.

For the first time, I was able to see that there were more individuals being served then the ones that we saw every day in the program. There was a whole new set of clients that the program served as we had to explain, rationalize, and advocate for the clients to ensure that they could receive the treatment that they needed. I was able to see the billing and accounting aspects of treatment and quickly came to realize that without this revenue that I was responsible for monitoring, tracking, and ensuring that it was obtained and maintained, the services that we provided would potentially cease to exist. I was able to see the importance of understanding various internal control systems, in this regard, that helped me to stay on top of these things because without them, the magnitude of the losses and potential continued losses would have been devastating.