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Officials say more treatment needed for women addicted and pregnant Friday, Sep 29, 2006 By Betsy Turner Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Additional funding for substance abuse treatment and home evaluations is needed to assist the mothers identified as using drugs while pregnant under a year-old state law, members of a work group studying the law testified Thursday. The Task Force on Substance Abuse Treatment Services heard testimony about the affect of Act 1176 of 2005. "Garrett's Law" requires medical personnel to report when a child is born with drugs in his or her system or is born with health problems related to the mother's drug use. Members of the work group studied the law over the summer and made recommendations on ways to help mothers affected by the law. The task force took no action on the recommendations Thursday. Cindy Crone, the executive director of Arkansas Cares, a treatment program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences for pregnant women addicted to drugs, said 273 referrals made under the new law have been substantiated, with 93 newborns and 33 of their siblings removed from their homes. Few of the mothers received any help after the removals, Crone said. "The unfortunate part of that is, less than 20 percent of those mothers received any substance abuse treatment," Crone said. "Less than 20 percent of those mothers received any parenting education or support, which a drug-positive birth would indicate a need potentially for both." Of the 289 state-funded residential treatment slots in the state, Crone said 32 were for mothers with children and 20 slots were for mothers released early from prison. She said more funding was needed to increase the number of available treatment slots. Brandy Kendrick, who had her child taken away under the law, said the treatment she received as part of the intervention by the state made a huge difference in recovering from her addiction. However, Kendrick said the removal of children from the home for a positive test should be reconsidered. She said it "tore my soul apart" when her daughter and newborn son were taken into state custody shortly after she tested positive for drugs. She said after regaining custody she had to learn how to console her son in a way his foster mother did and her daughter cried every time she left her side. She suggested caseworkers should evaluate homes and interview parents before a decision is made to place the child in foster care after a positive test. Karen Farst, a pediatrician at UAMS, said many medical professionals were confused about the vague language in part of the law's reporting requirements. She said it's often difficult to positively determine when a child's health problems are related to the mother's drug use, so health professionals may be reluctant to report the test result. She recommended a clarification of the law to make it more uniform statewide. |
