Treating the problem

Treating the problem A Times Editorial Published January 20, 2004
More than half of all Florida parents accused of abusing or neglecting
their children are hooked on drugs or alcohol. Yet only a handful ever
receive treatment, and even fewer complete it. State leaders need to
get serious about giving substance-abusing parents real help in
kicking their habits. Until they do, Florida won't reduce the
incidence of child abuse in a sustained way.
In 39 child abuse and neglect cases recently reviewed by the staff of
the Florida Senate Children and Families Committee, 23 involved a
parent on drugs. Only seven of those parents were admitted for drug
treatment, and just three successfully finished the program. As in
most substance-abuse cases, Department of Children and Families
caseworkers took longer than usual in deciding whether to reunify
these families. In the end, they did so a mere 17 percent of the time
- compared with 64 percent when drugs were not an issue.
State leaders aren't oblivious to the problem, but their efforts to
address it have been halfhearted. The Legislature has spent a modest
sum on expanding treatment, including $5-million for "family
intervention specialists" in each DCF district to work with
substance-abusing parents. But the money has met only a fraction of
the need. Committee staff found that even the specialists spend too
much of their limited time and money documenting a parent's drug habit
(through urinalysis testing), rather than helping the parent break it.
Years after being told by lawmakers to do so, DCF still does not track
and evaluate its services for substance-abusing parents.
"[T]he significant gap between the numbers of parents identified as
needing substance abuse services and the number of parents actually...
receiving the treatment indicates that further improvements are needed
in order to achieve better outcomes for children and families with
substance abuse issues," the staff concluded in November.
Substance-abusing parents, especially those who mistreat or neglect
their children, aren't a sympathetic group. But there are many reasons
beyond sympathy to help these parents get back on track. With
treatment, parents stand a better chance of maintaining jobs and
regaining their confidence along with custody of their children.
Without it, their children are likely to stay in foster care - at
taxpayers' expense - where their chances of growing into healthy and
productive adults decline dramatically

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/01/20/Op..._problem.shtml