Across Massachusetts and nationwide, the human services sector faces ongoing structural challenges: underfunded programs, subpar reimbursement rates, high staff turnover, and direct care teams tasked with complex clinical responsibilities beyond their initial training. At Victory Programs (VPI), Clinical Director Devin Stevenson, LMHC, is demonstrating that stabilizing individuals in treatment begins with investing directly in the clinical workforce. Over four years of dedicated leadership, Devin has worked within existing systems to integrate low-barrier, dignity-first principles throughout VPI’s residential care.
“We Are the Drug Test” – A Shift Toward Dignity in Care
For decades, traditional recovery programs operated on rigid compliance, strict rules, and administrative discharges following a relapse. Devin replaced this punitive framework with the Support Planning and Stabilization system, an approach centered on positive incentives and supportive scaffolding. Under this model, participants progress through structured phases, earning greater personal independence—such as off-campus passes—by completing evidence-based therapeutic groups like Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention or Seeking Safety.
When a participant experiences a setback or a return to use, VPI responds with supportive stabilization rather than eviction. Crucially, the agency does not perform routine toxicology testing. As Devin explains to staff and participants:
“We don’t drug test at Victory Programs because we are a drug test. If you’re struggling with going to group, you’re struggling in your recovery. I don’t need a drug screen to give you that feedback.”
This operational shift directly addresses a critical public health reality: data collected by the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS) reveals a dangerous spike in overdose fatalities during the two weeks immediately following a participant’s punitive discharge from a residential recovery program. By replacing threats of eviction with continuous, compassionate feedback, VPI keeps individuals safe, supported, and connected to care during early recovery.
Statewide Impact and Sustainable Leadership
What began as an internal effort to address staff frustration and turnover has expanded into a benchmark for quality care across Massachusetts.
To equip counselors with advanced clinical tools, Devin developed an 18-part clinical skills and group facilitation series. Recognizing its immense value, the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS) purchased the curriculum to roll out to recovery providers statewide. Devin negotiated the sale on behalf of Victory Programs, directing all proceeds straight back into VPI’s recovery homes. Today, Devin trains providers across Massachusetts, while VPI’s clinical supervisors facilitate the series across all VPI recovery residential programs.
Additionally, Devin is designing a new 9-part Clinical Supervisor Training Series to equip agency leaders with tools for performance management, crisis handling, and burnout prevention.
The Victory Scholars: Dismantling Educational Barriers
High-quality clinical care requires dismantling the systemic educational barriers that often force dedicated workers out of the field. Graduate programs in mental health counseling frequently require extensive unpaid internships—an overwhelming obstacle for working adults.
This operational shift directly addresses a critical public health reality: data collected by the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS) reveals a dangerous spike in overdose fatalities during the two weeks immediately following a participant’s punitive discharge from a residential recovery program. By replacing threats of eviction with continuous, compassionate feedback, VPI keeps individuals safe, supported, and connected to care during early recovery.
Statewide Impact and Sustainable Leadership
What began as an internal effort to address staff frustration and turnover has expanded into a benchmark for quality care across Massachusetts.
To equip counselors with advanced clinical tools, Devin developed an 18-part clinical skills and group facilitation series. Recognizing its immense value, the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS) purchased the curriculum to roll out to recovery providers statewide. Devin negotiated the sale on behalf of Victory Programs, directing all proceeds straight back into VPI’s recovery homes. Today, Devin trains providers across Massachusetts, while VPI’s clinical supervisors facilitate the series across all VPI recovery residential programs.
Additionally, Devin is designing a new 9-part Clinical Supervisor Training Series to equip agency leaders with tools for performance management, crisis handling, and burnout prevention.
The Victory Scholars: Dismantling Educational Barriers
High-quality clinical care requires dismantling the systemic educational barriers that often force dedicated workers out of the field. Graduate programs in mental health counseling frequently require extensive unpaid internships—an overwhelming obstacle for working adults.
To address this challenge, Devin collaborated with VPI leadership to establish the Victory Scholars program in partnership with Lesley University—a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based institution renowned for its clinical mental health counseling and expressive therapies programs. Through this collaboration, Scholars work toward their Master of Arts (M.A.) in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. The initiative offers agency employees tuition scholarships alongside fully paid clinical internships funded directly by Victory Programs.
To comply with licensing requirements that mandate internship duties be distinct from regular jobs, scholars split their 40-hour workweek: 20 hours in their primary position and 20 hours in a clinical internship at a different VPI site—all while retaining their full salary and benefits.
The early success of this model is already evident through leaders like Marie Hutchings, Clinical Supervisor at Victory House, who completed her Lesley internship at VPI before stepping directly into her supervisory role. Today, the inaugural cohort of paid Scholars—including Kyle Forrester, Ceci Wesche, Nate MacHata, Hilary Carito, and Rachel Walker-Zamora—are demonstrating how this pipeline creates a sustainable future for human services.
A Perspective from the Field
Among the dedicated members of this inaugural cohort, Rachel Walker-Zamora—a counselor at New Joelyn’s Home (NJH)—brings a unique perspective as the program’s first official Scholar.
Rachel’s journey into human services was unconventional. She served for eight years as a military firefighter and had zero formal experience in recovery when she applied three years ago. New Joelyn’s Program Director, Walter Kikuchi, recognized her transferable skills—such as de-escalation and performing under pressure—and brought her onboard. VPI supported her growth from day one, covering costs for her licensing exams as a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC).
Now in the second year of her M.A. program at Lesley, Rachel splits her week between counseling at New Joelyn’s Home—a 24-bed recovery home offering specialized, gender-affirming care for LGBTQ+ individuals—and interning as a clinical supervisor at New Victories. Her frontline experience has reshaped how she defines success in recovery:
“A lot of times people want you to say graduation or finding housing… but success looks really different for a lot of people. Sometimes even relapsing better can be a big success, or just trusting the system a little bit more. It can be really hard to trust the system when you’re poor or brown or queer… so coming in and saying, ‘you’re somebody on my list that I can be honest with,’ is a huge success that I take very personally.”
Practicing What We Preach
By investing in its team, Victory Programs fosters a continuous cycle of dignity and stability. When clinical leaders design supportive systems, program directors nurture non-traditional talent, and frontline pioneers translate those principles into daily care, VPI fulfills its role as the “safety net below the safety net”—showing how workforce investment and high-quality clinical care go hand in hand.