[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 45 (Thursday, March 15, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3192-S3193]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 FAMILY-BASED METH TREATMENT ACCESS ACT

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, substance abuse continues to claim 
victims, destroy families, and eat away at communities. Today, many 
communities in Illinois and across the country are struggling with the 
methamphetamine epidemic. Drug treatment centers in Illinois report an 
explosion in the number of people entering treatment for meth 
addiction. Public drug treatment providers have seen a 73 percent 
increase in meth treatment admissions in the last decade. Meth is 
having a particularly dire effect on families, tearing them apart and 
overwhelming our child welfare network. In 2004, more than half of the 
children entering foster care in some areas of rural southeastern 
Illinois were forced into the program because their caretakers were 
meth abusers. Meth use among adult women has very real and tragic 
implications for child safety, foster care, and family breakups.
  It is the stories of these mothers that paint the real picture of the 
disease of addiction. Last week, I met an amazing woman and mother 
whose story clearly represents the need for family-based treatment 
services. Imani has been in recovery from drug addiction for over 5 
years. Before that, she was in and out of treatment programs, making 
six consecutive attempts to break the addiction. She fought to find a 
treatment program that would meet her needs as a mother of three young 
children. While she was using and bouncing between failed attempts, she 
became pregnant with a fourth child. With four children and dwindling 
hope, she made one more stab at sobriety.
  Imani found an addiction and treatment center that offered a family-
based approach to treatment services. Five years later, Imani is sober, 
living happily with her children, including her fourth child who is now 
a healthy young boy and is currently on his school's honor roll. Today, 
she advocates on behalf of other recovering mothers and the importance 
of family-based treatment services.
  As we identify new methods to combat the disease of addiction, we 
must consider the specific needs of families. When mothers seek out 
treatment to heal from their addiction, they face a difficult battle. 
The world of substance abuse treatment is not designed with the needs 
of families in mind, and though the general programs may be successful 
for single men and women, families struggling with substance abuse 
issues find few opportunities to find treatment and recovery.
  Family-based treatment centers combine substance abuse recovery with 
mental health counseling, medical treatment, parenting, education, and 
legal services. These programs provide essential assistance to the 
entire family, rather than just the parent, and have proven to be 
extremely effective. Studies consistently show that family-based 
treatment increases long-term sobriety, educational enrollment, and 
gainful employment, along with decreased criminal activity and child 
development delays. Addressing the meth crisis through a comprehensive 
family-treatment approach provides a cost-effective alternative to 
incarceration and foster care and yields consistently positive outcomes 
in child well-being, family stability, and lower recidivism rates. A 
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, SAMHSA, 
evaluation of family-based treatment programs in 2003 revealed that 60 
percent of the mothers remained sober 6 months after discharge.

  Family-based treatment acknowledges the important connection between 
a mother and her child. Many

[[Page S3193]]

women cannot successfully go through substance abuse and mental health 
counseling if their children are excluded. More importantly, no woman 
should ever be forced to make that choice.
  This is why I am proud that yesterday, Senator Coleman and I joined 
to introduce the Family-Based Meth Treatment Access Act of 2007. This 
bill will expand, intensify, and coordinate efforts to provide 
comprehensive, family-based substance abuse treatment for 
methamphetamine addiction. Our bill will provide additional funding for 
the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to award grants to programs 
that provide comprehensive, family-based substance abuse treatment for 
pregnant and parenting women. Throughout our entire Nation, there are 
only about 80 known family-based treatment centers. Two, the Women's 
Treatment Center and the program at Haymarket Center are in the State 
of Illinois. These grants will strengthen the work of these centers and 
provide opportunities for other centers to extend their services to 
additional mothers and their children.
  The Family-Based Meth Treatment Access Act also gives priority to 
programs serving rural and mental health professional shortage areas 
affected by high rates of meth addiction. The State of Illinois knows 
far too well the impact that the meth epidemic has had on our 
communities, especially those in rural areas. We need to strengthen 
services where the epidemic has made the biggest impact on the health 
of women and their children and where family-based treatment services 
are not readily available.
  Finally, the bill provides assistance to organizations that help 
nonviolent offenders overcome their drug addiction. Many organizations 
provide comprehensive, family-based substance abuse treatment services 
to nonviolent offenders as an alternative to incarceration. These 
services are a successful model for the road to recovery and give 
families hope for the future. They are cost-effective and they yield 
consistently positive outcomes.
  Family-based treatment services are a proven method for recovery for 
women with children, and we should make these programs available 
everywhere. Imani is just one example of the success of family-based 
treatment. I invite my colleagues in the Senate to support the Family-
Based Meth Treatment Access Act and to make this successful reality 
possible for other recovering mothers and their children.

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