Unpaid work-based programs are often the cornerstone of alcohol and drug rehab.
In a July 7, 2020 article that is part of a Reveal investigative series on these programs, reporter Shoshana Walter said her team identified at least 300 rehab facilities in 44 states that required unpaid labor from participants. They found that, in recent years, at least 60,000 people have gone through these programs annually. Some participants work at thrift stores or car washes, and others work at profitable corporations such as Exxon, Shell, Walmart and Tyson.
The reporters interviewed Timothy Klick, who attended a Cenikor Foundation program in Fort Worth, Texas in 2018 and worked full time at a factory making dinnerware for ThermoServ.
“I feel like a slave, honestly,” said Kirk. “I’m being forced to work and not getting anything out of it.”
The Reveal article notes a California program, the Jericho Project, began sending participants to work full time at Williams Sonoma, a Fortune 500 company. According to confidential financial records obtained by Reveal, the participants were not paid for their labor. The Jericho Project remains licensed with the state today.
As soon as the unpaid labor model in rehab gained national attention, the U.S. Department of Labor began to scrutinize it.
In 1977, the Department of Labor filed a case against the Tony and Susan Alamo Foundation for violations of federal wage laws, a case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court. The foundation put people in the...
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