SCADD’s new CEO was the only candidate considered
Lawton has been there since right after college
Lebanon — Stacey Lawton, who started working for the Southeastern Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence right out of college in 1993, is the new chief executive officer of the $10 million substance abuse treatment agency.
Her first job at the agency was answering the hotline set up for people who wanted to get into treatment.
Lawton, 48, of Bozrah, who has been serving as deputy director of SCADD since 2005, is succeeding Jack Malone, who will remain as President of the Corporation until his retirement in 2021.
SCADD, which receives state and United Way funding, operates 10 programs at seven sites in southeastern Connecticut, from detox facilities to residential treatment programs, outpatient clinics, halfway houses and a recovery home. The agency’s administrative offices are inside its Lebanon Pines treatment facility for men.
The SCADD Board of Directors had adopted a succession plan after Malone, 63, announced his retirement plan earlier this year and appointed Lawton the CEO at its October meeting. She is only the third chief executive of the organization in SCADD’s 53-year history, and was the only candidate considered, according to Timothy Gilman, chairman of the board of directors.
“There’s a lot of stabiity in the organization, and we just wanted to maintain it,” Gilman said by phone last week. “Stacey knows everything about the organization, and we have every confidence in her ability. We could have had a lengthy search process and we would have come back with Stacey.”
Malone said Lawton is the “warp and woof” of SCADD, having done
most every job at the agency, and is perfectly positioned to be the executive director.
Lawton, who graduated from Norwich Free Academy in 1989, started working for SCADD in 1993, the same year she received her bachelor’s degree from Eastern Connecticut State University. She went on to receive a master’s degree in social work from the University of Connecticut in 2012.
“Most of my work has been behind the scenes, but it’s a mission I care about greatly,” Lawton said by phone Tuesday.
Lawton answered the hotline, taught GED classes and coached the softball team at Lebanon Pines in the early days of her employment. In the ensuing years, she performed development work, grant procurement and compliance and program development.
Lawton will be overseeing several upcoming projects at Lebanon Pines, funded by state bonds, including bathroom renovations and installation of a generator that will provide power to all of the buildings. A plan to fix infrastructure related to the water distribution system is also in the works.
Lawton and Malone described their work at SCADD as rewarding, but sometimes heartbreaking, in light of the mounting opioid overdose deaths.
“The epidemic has become so pervasive that we’re no longer shocked by the number of lives that it takes,” said Lawton. “To me that’s really disheartening. We have a terrific treatment team, and as much as we’re committed to that treatment, more important is that our program delivers hope not only to the people we are servicing, but the families of those who are afflicted.”
Malone, who has been candid about his own struggle with alcoholism, has become a go-to guy for information about addiction treatment and recovery. He started working at SCADD in 1995 and has been executive director since 2001.
“There’s been sacrifices and enormous joy,” Malone said by phone.
He said there’s nothing like running into someone at the grocery store who says, “Remember me? I was there five years ago” and goes on to talk about their families and jobs.
He said there’s also been the enormous heartache, particularly in recent years, of attending funerals for young people who didn’t remain in recovery.