Over the past 23 years, Bob Francis, LICDC has been heavily involved in the chemical dependency recovery community in Greater Cleveland, Ohio. His personal recovery began in 1985 and he quickly became active in the chemical dependency and criminal justice field.

Bob began working in a Juvenile Justice center. He then worked at an adult detox center, a hospital based treatment center, and from there, he went into community corrections. He has developed intensive outpatient programs, halfway house programs, was involved in the onset of Greater Cleveland Drug Court. He was the Director of Chemical Dependency Treatment at a community corrections agency that services Ohio Department of Corrections, Cuyahoga County Adult Probation, and a variety of local Municipal Courts. Bob currently works with Windsor-Laurelwood Behavioral Health Center, in the Chemical Dependency Intensive Outpatient Program. He is implementing his cognitive behavioral approach to his program “Relapse: A Thought Process”.

Bob has always worked in conjunction with area Judges, Parole Officers, Probation Officers, and other agencies that deal with these entities. He has consulted with them to aid in treating chemically dependent offenders. He has developed and gone through the certification process with Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services to gain certification for several programs in Greater Cleveland.

For the past 23 years, Bob has worked with alcoholics and addicts from all walks of life, and has freely shared his own personal experience with alcohol and drug addiction. He is highly regarded in the recovery community primarily due to his willingness to relate his own history with others and offer a helping hand. Bob was fortunate enough to have entered recovery in the place where it all started. His closest friends include people who have been involved in Alcoholics Anonymous for the past 60 plus years. He has learned to “KEEP IT SIMPLE”. The simplicity of his message, which includes working the steps, spirituality, relapse dynamics, and basic sober living skills, is what he feels to be the most important factor in leading people to this way of life. If you believe that you or someone you love has had enough, then Bob's got something to tell you. He wants to take you on a “DISCOVERY BEFORE RECOVERY”.

Bob has recently become associated with GWC, Inc. They are producing DVDs to be used in the chemical dependency field. The first DVD is about how Bill W. wrote the steps. It is an in-depth look at AA beginnings and the first four steps. Bob is available to help other professionals who see the urgent need to get back to basics in a truly “keep it simple” fashion. He can be contacted at Bfdipso@aol.com, or (216) 272-6246.

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