| Starting in mid-2007, the financial crisis began its process to ravish the global economy. The 2008 financial crisis is recognized as the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of 1929 (Foster & Magdoff, 2009). Spiraling out of control the relentless consequences caused massive job loss, increased unemployment, foreclosures, and even homelessness across the U.S. In 2009 more than 600,000 small businesses were forced to close (U.S. Census Bureau, 2013; SBA, 2011). The purpose of this research was to explore how the crisis affected small substance abuse treatment facilities in the metropolitan Atlanta area in a state where in 2013 there was an estimated 630 drug overdose deaths (GBI, 2014). The exploration was conducted through a qualitative phenomenological study of the lived experiences of how 13 senior managers of perceived the impact of the crisis on their organizations. The experiences were captured through one-on-one open-ended semi-structured interviews. Four core themes emerged from the interviews: business and fiscal management experience, consequences of the crisis, changes to program services, sustainability plans and strategies to prevent closure of the organization. Findings indicated that senior managers possessed the professional counseling skills necessary to provide quality care, however, findings show there is a need for managers to improve their business and fiscal management skills. This phenomenology study eliminates assumptions and illuminates the factual experiences and perceptions from individuals who experienced the impact of financial crisis. |
