In communities across the country you can find family drug court programs doing good work to support the very large cross-section of child welfare cases involving issues with chemical dependency. Usually it’s one person, maybe a chemical dependency professional, a child welfare manager, or in this case, a judge. One person with a vision and a driving passion to serve this child welfare cross-section in a different way. From that, a family drug court is born, bringing together a multi-disciplinary team of legal, chemical dependency, mental health, child welfare, and case management professionals. These teams meet regularly – usually every week, to report on and support the progress of the participants in the program.
Mary Millner's third pregnancy couldn't have come at a worse time.
The mother of two had just gotten in a bad fight with her mother in the house they shared with her children. Millner screamed at her mom. She threw things. Police were called.
Officers arrived with child welfare workers in tow, a standard response to any call where children are present. Millner had to take a drug test, which detected marijuana and cocaine…
… About 75 percent of all child welfare cases in family court involve parental substance abuse. Some parents get referred to the program after an infant tests positive for illicit drugs in the hospital.
You can read Amy Yurkanin’s full article about this Jefferson County Alabama family drug court program by following here.
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