Fulcrum expands young-adult focus with acquisition of Life of Purpose

Fulcrum Equity Partners announced today that it has added Life of Purpose Treatment Centers to its holdings in substance use disorder treatment, establishing a greater foothold in services for young adults ages 18 to 30 in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions.

The private equity company also announced that its current facilities and future acquisitions in the substance use treatment space will operate under a newly created holding company called City Line Behavioral Healthcare, LLC.

Drew Rothermel, JD, MBA, will serve as president and CEO of both City Line and Life of Purpose, the latter of which has been groundbreaking in having established the nation's first addiction treatment facility located on a college campus. Life of Purpose, which operates that facility in Palm Beach County, Fla. (on the campus of Florida Atlantic University), also runs an intensive outpatient program in Camden County, N.J., an area with multiple college campuses nearby.

“They have a product that every parent wants—not only getting their child sober, but seeing them return to being productive in school or in the workforce,” Rothermel tells Behavioral Healthcare Executive.

Life of Purpose's clinical mission is similar to that of Liberation Way, the Pennsylvania-based organization that Fulcrum Equity Partners acquired last spring. “Right now we have a heavy focus on the 18-to-30 population, a polysubstance group with primary opioid issues,” says Rothermel. “This is the group screaming for help.”

Liberation Way will be integrated into Life of Purpose Treatment Centers, under the City Line Behavioral Healthcare umbrella. Rothermel says City Line also has some smaller-scale business announcements currently in the pipeline.

Rothermel says all of Liberation Way's administrative staff and much of its clinical team has been revamped since the acquisition earlier this year; the facility had faced significant state regulatory scrutiny. He says City Line will continue to focus on the needs of middle-income families that struggle to find affordable and effective care for substance use disorders.

Life of Purpose founder Andrew Burki, MSW, will now serve as Life of Purpose's director of public policy; he has been heavily involved in recovery advocacy work over the years.

“For the past five years, our mission has been helping clients to find purpose through higher education, trade school, and professional development, both during and post treatment,” Burki said in a news release announcing the acquisition. “This acquisition brings us one step closer to changing the paradigm for how substance use disorder treatment is conducted in America.”