TREATING ADDICTS WITH KIDS GETS RESULTS

Innovative Program To Spend $11.5 Million

After years of addiction to alcohol, crack and cocaine, a 37-year-old
Montreal woman is crediting an innovative treatment program for
helping her stay clean for nearly a year.

And Nathalie says she couldn't have done it without the daily
presence of her 7-year-old son, who attended the Portage residential
treatment program in the Laurentians with her.

"I had tried other programs, and never succeeded," said Nathalie (who
did not want her last name published.)

Now Quebec and a private foundation will spend $11.5 million over the
next five years to treat female addicts and their children, as well
as pregnant women. Portage will run the program in downtown Montreal.

The Fondation Lucie et Andre Chagnon will supply half the money, as
part of its focus on preventing child poverty, former Videotron owner
Andre Chagnon said yesterday.

According to Portage, hospitals report that since 1981, an estimated
10 per cent of babies in the city's east end are affected by their
mothers' cocaine use. In addition, nearly one-quarter of Quebec women
say they have consumed alcohol while pregnant.

Despite those figures, there are few treatment options available for
addicted mothers and their children, Youth Protection Minister
Margaret Delisle said yesterday.

Recent North American research shows treating women and their
children together gets better results than treating them separately,
said Portage president Peter Howlett.

The new program will treat 75 women and children under the age of 8 each year.

Nathalie said having her son with her helped prepare her for a life
without drugs or alcohol.

"I learned that I didn't need to have a drink to deal with the stress
of taking him with me to go grocery shopping," she said, adding
alcohol had been part of her life since she was 8 years old.

Since completing the program last month, Nathalie and her son have
moved away from Montreal, and she has left behind her stressful
career working with teenagers.