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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 |
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