The System is Broken

Shaler Houser
Sep 9, 2018 · 1 min read

1) Daily deaths associated with illicit drugs, alcohol, and suicide are greater than the average daily deaths during WWI, WWI, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan wars, combined.

2) The United States is on pace for a three consecutive year decline in the average life expectancy. The last time this occurred was from 1916–1918 a flu pandemic. The “deaths of despair” are directly linked to this surreal decline in our life expectancy.

3) The leading cause of death for Americans under age 50 is overdose.

4) Only 1 in 10 Americas with a substance use disorder gets help.

5) 1 in 7 Americans will develop a substance use disorder sometime during their lifetime.

6) 48 million Americans are estimated to have used illicit drugs or misused prescription drugs in the previous year.

7) Over 85,000 children are being placed in foster care each year do to parent’s substance use disorders. 20,000 children are aging out of the foster care system each year.

I am building a solution to provides families with compassion and hope. I am primarily focused on the 90% of people that never get help. There is a hole in the system that must be filled.

Shaler Houser

Written by

Co-founder and CEO of youturn. Former CEO of Green Cloud Technologies, UCI Communications, Nuvox Communications, & Seruus Ventures @shalerhouser

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