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A Family Issue
Approximately 10,600 children in the U.S. lived where methamphetamine labs were seized between 2000 and 2003. Nationally, 2,900 children were removed from their homes during 2002 and 2003 because of neglect or abuse by methamphetamine-addicted parents. (National Association of Counties. The Meth Epidemic in America)
Drugs and alcohol can rip a family apart at its core. Often, substance abuse starts as a way to mask other family problems, or as a result of a traumatic event. Women may begin to use substances to self-medicate mental health symptoms or issues such as depression or anxiety. They may also try methamphetamine to boost their energy as they try to cope with difficult life stressors. Whatever caused a woman to start abusing substances needs to be treated, in conjunction with her addiction. Treatment must also involve everyone in the family.
Family treatment programs for methamphetamine using parents and their children provides and opportunity for a family to heal together by regaining health and stability. It has been proven in states hardest hit by the methamphetamine epidemic that family treatment programs have achieved an average 70% success rate in parental sobriety and family stability. (The Rebecca Project for Human Rights)
St. Monica's believes empowering women to become good parents, employees, friends, daughters and spouses and to deal with any trauma or abuse they may have experienced is a powerful beginning to a new life!
The bottom line benefits to society, far outweigh the costs of treatment.
<•> Family treatment costs between $14,000 and $25,000 per family per year.
<•> The average cost of a child in foster care is $30,000 per year and the cost of state or federal incarceration is $28,000 per year.
<•> The Department of justice concluded that lifetime costs of caring for drug exposed children range from $750,000 to $1.4 million per child (U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration)
Separating children from their parents has negative consequences on the child. It impairs a child's emotional and cognitive development, as well as triggers the onset of attachment disorders. Children with attachment disorders are more vulnerable to sexual abuse, involvement in the criminal justice system and substance abuse. (RH Reality Check)
So what does family treatment really look like? At St. Monica's we are continually working to find more ways to address the comprehensive needs of the families we serve. Treatment starts with strengthening family relationships. At St. Monica’s, families work on parenting skills, healthy living, self-confidence and empowerment--as well as medical and mental health issues. St. Monica’s provides informed child care, children’s and couple counseling, as well as art and other expressive therapies to help families heal and learn to trust one another again. Recovery is a lifetime commitment. AA and NA meetings combined with relapse prevention planning, vocational support and other access to community resources are all critical to a family’s success.
Treatment is ALWAYS less expensive than incarceration. The cost of untreated drug and alcohol addiction to our community is nearly immeasurable. By addressing and treating addiction as a family issue, we are preventing a vicious generational cycle of ongoing trauma, addiction and other family problems while restoring hope for all our futures.
Resources:
National Association of Counties. The Meth Epidemic in America. Washington, DC: National Association of Counties, 2005
The Rebecca Project for Human Rights, Methamphetamine and Family Treatment Initiative Fact Sheet. May 2006.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Costs to Society, available at DEA’s “Street Smart Prevention” Web site, www.justthinktwice.com/costs/DrugEndangeredChildren.cfm.
RH Reality Check. Mothering as a Reproductive Right. December 2007.
- St. Monica's Provides Substance Abuse and Mental Health Treatment for:
- Short-Term Residential
- Therapeutic Community
- Project Mother and Child
- New Beginnings
- Partial Care
- Intensive Outpatient
- Community Support
- Adolescent Girls Treatment Group Home
Located in Lincoln, St. Monica's is a non-profit human service agency founded in 1964, committed to the sobriety of women of all ages through empowerment, stability and self-fulfillment. St. Monica's never turns a woman away due to her inability to pay for substance abuse treatment. Since 2000, St. Monica's has achieved the pinnacle of service standards in the field of substance abuse treatment, with continued three-year certification from the Commission for Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). St. Monica's just completed it's third successful review and proudly has earned The CARF certification.
Welcome to our website! If you would like additional information about St. Monica's, please contact us at (402) 441-3768.
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