WE'RE REALLY LUCKY

Two Escape Health Defects Associated With Drug Babies

WAILUKU - Lisa Parker knows the toll that drug addiction takes on
families, and she advocates birth control as a way to stop drug babies
from being born.

Parker, 49, has seven children, one of whom has been in and out of
drug-rehabilitation programs on Maui and Oahu for addiction to crystal
methamphetamine. The 27-year-old daughter is enrolled now in a Big Island
rehab program.

The woman has two children, both of whom were taken into custody by Child
Protective Services. Parker fought successfully to gain guardianship of
both girls: 5-year-old Ceselie Anne Kihoi and 2-year-old Rita Marie
Rodarte.

"I wouldn't ever call them a burden, but it is hard," said Parker, who has
five other daughters and a son ranging in age from 14 to 32. They are
thriving in school or full-time jobs, including military service.

Fortunately, Parker's granddaughters escaped the adverse health effects
usually associated with drug babies, such as low birth weight,
developmental delays and permanent disabilities.

"We're really lucky," she said.

But the girls suffer the emotional trauma of not having their mother and
father to care for them. Ceselie Anne often has nightmares, waking up in
tears and crying out for her mother. Both girls have had virtually no
contact with their fathers, and in the few times they've visited their
mother, she hasn't been able to care for or make a maternal connection
with her children, Parker said.

"It's just not fair to the kids," Parker said.

About three years ago, Parker's oldest daughter, a 32-year-old mother of
two, learned about Project Prevention, a program founded by a North
Carolina woman, who had adopted four children suffering from the effects
of their mother's drug addictions.

The program pays drug-addicted men and women $300 to use various methods
of birth control.

The program has paid about 2,800 addicts and/or alcoholics, mostly women,
in 39 states and the District of Columbia over 10 years of operation.
Project Prevention is funded by private foundations and individuals
supporting the program's mission to reduce the number of substance-exposed
births to zero.

"Many children with mothers addicted to alcohol and drugs end up in foster
care, and their lives and sometimes health are often ruined because of the
addiction," Project Prevention founding Director Barbara Harris said in a
telephone interview from North Carolina.

Harris said supporters have called Project Prevention "the most
common-sense approach" to addressing the birth problems of drug-affected
babies. Project Prevention gets no state or government funding, according
to Harris.

The program reached Maui, thanks in part to Parker and her oldest
daughter, who spent many hours communicating by phone and e-mail to
persuade Harris to bring Project Prevention here.

For various reasons, Harris was unable to travel to Hawaii until late last
year, when the first Maui County woman agreed to have an intrauterine
device, or IUD, implanted to prevent pregnancy.

Project Prevention's first Maui recipient is a 23-year-old mother of two,
who asked to remain anonymous but granted permission to her family support
worker, Saudina Torres of Maui Family Support Services, to discuss the
case.

Torres explained that her job is to connect families at risk with
community resources to help them gain better control of their lives. The
23-year-old program participant had asked for family-planning help after
giving birth to her second child two months ago.

The woman told Torres she was seeking long-term birth control but did not
have the money to pay for it.

Torres made inquiries with Project Prevention after seeing the materials
that Harris, Parker and Parker's daughter had distributed to 15 to 20 Maui
human-service agencies in December.

Torres said the decision to get help from Project Prevention ultimately
belonged to her program participant.

"I give her education about everything she wants to do. She chooses in the
end what she wants to do," she said.

Torres, who's been at her job for about 2 years, said she believes all
families should be educated about their options and have control over how
they want to approach family planning.

Parker said she still hopes her daughter, who's been taking drugs since
she was a teenager, someday will be able to cope with her addiction and
assume custody of her children. In the meantime, Parker said she and her
oldest daughter believe the 27-year-old woman will need at least five
years to recover and should be allowed to be paid for a one-time
birth-control option.

Parker said she was happy to see someone was benefiting from Project
Prevention. "I think it's great someone picked up the phone and utilized
it. That's one less child being neglected, going into foster care," she
said. "There's probably more out there. They just don't know about it."

Harris said she's heard criticism about her program during the decade it's
been running. "Some people call it a bribe. We call it preventing abuse,"
she said.

Harris said she hasn't heard a legitimate reason yet for a drug addict or
alcoholic to get pregnant.

"What I normally say to those who oppose our work is: 'If you believe
these women have the right to have as many children as they want,
regardless of the fact that they aren't able to raise them, then you
better be ready to step up and adopt a few,' " she said.

Harris said she tried to get legislation that would mandate drug-addicted
women be on birth control but was unsuccessful. Project Prevention then
was established.

Parker said she would not be surprised if some of the women used Project
Prevention's $300 payments to support their drug habits. "They might as
well have birth control while they're on drugs," she said.

Prospective participants must call Project Prevention's toll-free number
and register before becoming eligible to get birth control. Participants
must be 18 to 45 years old and provide a verifiable history of drug or
alcohol addiction. Proof of following through with a birth-control
procedure also must be provided.

For more information about Project Prevention, visit Web site
www.projectprevention.org or call (888) 302-7225.