Can I Bring My Child to Inpatient Rehab?

If you know that you need drug and/or alcohol treatment, you may feel unable to pursue it because you have responsibilities. For many people, those responsibilities include raising their children.

Of course, you know the best thing you can do for your children is to get treatment and lead a sober life, but how can you do that and leave them to someone else’s care? What if you have no one else to care for them? What then? This situation can leave you feeling abandoned and desperate.

Did you know that women are less likely than men to seek treatment? Did you know that women statistically face greater economic barriers to treatment? Women tend to seek care from their family doctor or a mental health specialist, rather than pursue dedicated treatment and this makes sense because so many women, particularly mothers, can’t take time away from their roles as mothers and/or cannot finance drug and/or alcohol treatment.

Allowing children in inpatient rehab reduces their risk of being negatively impacted by their parent’s addiction.

In a single parent family, this may prove even more challenging. How can you support your children if you have to take leave from work? Or worse, how can you afford treatment if you and your family are presently homeless?

You may feel relieved to learn that there have been advances in drug and alcohol treatment that mean many women can now attend inpatient drug treatment with their children. The programs have a short history, but they have proven successful. In fact, treatment that offers comprehensive services, like child care, parenting classes, housing, and transportation, has been shown to reduce post-treatment drug use.

If you are interested in finding inpatient drug and/or alcohol treatment call 800-430-1407Who Answers?. You can have questions answered, get connected to resources, and be directed to a rehab center that meets your needs.

Background

According to the industry publication Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, early in the 1990s the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Substance Abuse provided funding for 11 federally funded programs for women and their children.

Although those programs were started by people who were thrown into their new roles rather rapidly and lacked expertise in the area, the programs succeeded. It was a tough transition from the tasks of traditional treatment to child development, pregnancy, parenting, family dynamics and other clinical necessities of caring for addicted mothers and their children.

A Program Example

One of the pioneer sites, The Village in Miami, Florida, is recognized both locally and nationally as a model for this type of care. In this center, both parents and their children are treated. This allows the parent to recover from their addiction, but it also ensures that the risks their addiction has caused for their children—illness, school failure, emotional problems, injury, and future substance use—are reduced.

The Village can house up to 65 parents and 125 children. The program is 6 months long, during which the families transition from intense treatment to reunification of their family to more independent living, as parents move into employment or vocational training. This leaves families ready to re-enter the community.

Are there Inpatient Programs Specifically for Women?

What It Looks Like

Obviously, different programs will proceed in different ways, so researching possible programs if really important. This is why calling a service like InpatientDrugRehabCenters.com can be such a welcome experience. Just call 800-430-1407Who Answers? and get started with your research.

In general, a program should be gender-sensitive and address the needs of parents, children, and families. You should be provided with licensed addiction services, but you also should take part in health and developmental services. These services may include psychiatric assessment and treatment, structured visits from the parent not in the center, Whole-family therapy (including children living outside the center) and participation, medical treatment, and school-based programs and tutoring for the children.

Most family treatment centers focus on the function of the family because they believe that substance abuse treatment should help participants to deal with problems in their familial relationships. When you deal with those problems, the family becomes stronger. Expect a lot of family therapy and care.