ACES is dedicated to providing quality, affordable treatment to enable our clients to live lives free of substances, violence, and other legal problems.
Our professional clinical staff provides assessment, individual, group and family counseling on a daily basis, as well as information on substance abuse, domestic violence, and other related issues.
We provide groups during the day, evening and on the weekend. We have a sliding-fee schedule for those clients who qualify due to low-income. In addition, we offer programs in both English and Spanish. Our office staff is bilingual, which aids in communication with our clients.
We are licensed to provide domestic violence and substance abuse treatment. We are also members of the Salt Lake County Substance Abuse Coordination Council and the Salt Lake Area Domestic Violence Council
ACES Mission Statement
ACES goal is to help individuals achieve their full potential by encouraging and supporting them as they learn to overcome their addictive and behavioral problems. We help individuals and families more fully utilize their mental, physical, and spiritual resources through the services we offer. We are able to provide individualized services due to the diversity and flexibility of our staff and referral system.
ACES History
Five years ago ACES began as a dream, born of the desire of Deeny Otanez, a widow, retiree, a
nd self described recovering addict, to help people turn their lives around for the better. ACES is the culmination of Deeny's dream. In November, 2000, after receiving her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Utah , and with 10 years of recovery behind her, Deeny founded ACES using money loaned by a local businessman, and using her 401K account to keep the business going for the first year.
Like that of other start-up businesses, ACES' beginning were very modest, with a staff of four, Deeny, who is a licensed substance abuse counselor, a psychologist as a clinical director, and two social workers. The fledgling agency's office was furnished with furniture purchased at garage sales or Deseret Industries, or from Deeny's basement.
For the first six or eight months, Deeny was ?jack of all trades.? She responded to telephone messages, taught prevention classes, did substance abuse assessments, went to the courts to obtain referrals, kept the books, and was the leader for the substance abuse groups.
Since that time, ACES has changed dramatically. We have moved from a small, dreary office with no windows, to a light and pleasant office and plenty of room for the staff and clients. This new office is located immediately adjacent to the TRAX station on 3900 South and West Temple , easily accessible from all areas of the valley.
ACES now employs a full time office manager/case manager, a full time receptionist, a part time bookkeeper, a half time evening/Saturday clerical staff to check clients in for their treatment groups, one full time Court Representative who also works in the office, and six other Court Representatives who sit in the local justice courts in order to assist the clients when they are referred to ACES. Deeny has an Assistant Administrative Director to help her in all of the many details required to provide quality treatment and run an efficient business. ACES also employs nine part time counselors, two education specialists/DUI Instructors, and accepts Master's level students who need to do internships in order to receive their degree. ACES currently has a satellite office in Riverton , Utah to better serve the population of the South West part of Salt Lake Valley .
Ten members of ACES office staff are bilingual Spanish speaking, including all of the administrative office staff. ACES without a doubt has the best Spanish speaking program in the Valley. Deeny recognizes that the Spanish speaking client needs to have someone he/she can communicate with from their first contact with our Agency. ACES believes that the Spanish speaking immigrants who need the services ACES provides are generally not criminals. They may simply lack knowledge of our culture, and fear our Court system. ACES provides the Spanish speaking with help and allows them to feel comfortable about getting the help they need so they can be good citizens of our Country. Whatever the Spanish-speaking need in terms of mental health services, substance abuse and domestic violence treatment, or educational programs, they can find help in Spanish at ACES.
We at ACES are proud of our Agency. In a relatively short time, we have grown from a relatively unknown non-profit substance abuse counseling provider into a thriving counseling agency that provides affordable treatment, bilingual, Spanish speaking treatment, which is affordable and flexible. ACES continues to look for innovative and cost efficient ways to meet the needs of Salt Lake 's diverse culture.
