News (Media Awareness Project) - US FL: Women Face Wait For Addiction Treatment |
| Title: | US FL: Women Face Wait For Addiction Treatment |
| Published On: | 2009-01-21 |
| Source: | Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL) |
| Fetched On: | 2009-01-22 19:18:25 |
WOMEN FACE WAIT FOR ADDICTION TREATMENT
DAYTONA BEACH -- Wrapping his arms around his mother's leg, Cameron
Macur puts his head down and tells her he doesn't want to leave.
"I didn't get time to really play," the 5-year-old
said.
He had less than an hour with his mother, but she assured him he'd be
back the next afternoon and said, "I'll cook a nice dinner."
Time is precious for Michel Macur, who can only see her son a few days
a week while she's been in a substance abuse treatment program. She
isn't able to read to him at night or kiss him goodnight since the
state placed him with her ex-husband in May last year. She said she
was drunk with her son at a local motel pool and had a history of
alcohol problems.
She, like other local women, waited months to get into treatment and
relapsed several times in the interim. Now after five months in a
Serenity House treatment and transition program, she hopes within a
month to get her own apartment, start college and have her son live
with her again.
Local substance abuse agencies report an increase in women seeking
inpatient treatment and an increase in wait times. At Serenity House a
woman can wait about 90 days compared to 60 for men. Local treatment
beds for men are triple the number for women.
"It can result in someone saying, 'I tried and there wasn't anything
available and I'll keep using or I'll move to another area or kill
myself,' " said Randy Croy, Serenity House executive director.
Historically, there have been more beds for men because of their
higher involvement in the criminal justice system, officials said. But
some are seeing more women either seeking treatment or being
court-ordered. In some cases treatment is a condition to regain
custody of their children.
After legislators approved recent cuts in substance abuse funding,
local agencies are not optimistic about adding beds for the indigent
anytime soon. They're worried about maintaining the beds they have and
avoiding future cuts. Stewart-Marchman-Act Behavioral Healthcare,
Serenity House and Community Outreach Services are at risk of losing
about $1.1 million combined if the Legislature in the session
beginning in March doesn't approve one-time funding that agencies have
used for years to operate outpatient and inpatient programs.
"It would have drastic effects on services," said Reggie Williams,
local administrator for the state Department of Children & Families,
which contracts with the agencies.
Community Outreach Services in DeLand saw a 17 percent increase in
women in outpatient and inpatient services for the last six months of
2008 compared to the same 2007 period.
Stewart-Marchman-Act has seen a 9 percent increase in women entering
outpatient, inpatient and detox treatment between 2007 and 2008. For
short-term detox alone, there was a 24 percent increase with 580 in
2008. If state lawmakers don't approve $240,000 in funding, the agency
will have to cut in half its 14-bed program for pregnant women.
The agency is initially adding 50 treatment beds in July with the new
Vince Carter Sanctuary in Bunnell, but those will only be for men and
women with insurance or private funding.
As far as people waiting, Serenity House has seen an increase since
July 2007. About 100 people today, including 30 women, are waiting for
residential treatment compared to about 60 previously. An increase in
women sought treatment after the agency added 16 beds last January.
The Salvation Army in Daytona Beach currently has some vacant
treatment beds for women, but only for those who are
court-ordered.
Michel Macur called every day for three months trying to get into a
Serenity House bed. She used outpatient services in the meantime, but
"kept slipping."
"When they called me it was a relief and a blessing. I was just about
to give up and say screw it and I don't know what," Macur said. "It's
just like another blow in your life. Everything is falling apart
around you and you can't even get a bed."
She'd been an alcoholic for more than 20 years, drinking to deal with
depression from childhood issues, she said. She was in a
Stewart-Marchman treatment program with her son after he was born. DCF
has been in and out of her life since.
Now she's working and signing up for college. Her son, she said, has
"been my driving force."
Christy Thomas, 31, faced similar challenges. She waited in jail
almost two months in July to get a bed. She's in adult drug court on
charges involving crack cocaine. She said she had a crack problem for
two years after her mother died.
Since being at a Serenity House Daytona Beach program, she said she's
getting overnight visits with her 14- and 7-year-old sons at her
grandmother's house. She'll graduate from treatment in February and
attend college. She works at a local doughnut shop, volunteers at her
son's school and hopes to move into a rented house provided by
Serenity House.
"I deserve a better life than what I was doing. My kids deserve to
have their mother and a stable environment," Thomas said.
Paula Barreto, 43, who is in the same Serenity House program, went
into the Serenity House office every day checking to see whether there
was an opening. She was lucky she got into the program in November
after only 20 days. Earlier in 2008, she waited for about three
months, then decided to continue with a 12-step program instead.
She had a history of cocaine, alcohol abuse and snorting diet pills.
She has 19- and 17-year-old daughters who she lost custody of years
ago to their father, and a 5-year-old daughter in foster care. She too
has dealt with depression after, within a short period in 2000, losing
a husband to suicide and her mom to cancer.
She plans to finish treatment in May. In the meantime, she tells her
5-year-old, who she sees once a week, that she's sick and is getting
help "so I can be a better mom."
Local beds
The number of substance abuse inpatient and transitional treatment
beds for local men far outweigh the number for women. Some agencies
report a longer wait time for women than men. Here's the breakdown of
beds:
Serenity House
126 male beds
44 female beds
Stewart-Marchman-Act Behavioral Healthcare
128 male beds
20 female beds (14 are for pregnant women, women with young
children)
19 short-term detox male beds
8 short-term detox female beds
Community Outreach Services
16 male beds
16 female beds
Salvation Army of East Volusia & Flagler Counties
36 male beds
24 female beds
SOURCES: Serenity House, Stewart-Marchman-Act, Community Outreach
Services and Salvation Army.
DAYTONA BEACH -- Wrapping his arms around his mother's leg, Cameron
Macur puts his head down and tells her he doesn't want to leave.
"I didn't get time to really play," the 5-year-old
said.
He had less than an hour with his mother, but she assured him he'd be
back the next afternoon and said, "I'll cook a nice dinner."
Time is precious for Michel Macur, who can only see her son a few days
a week while she's been in a substance abuse treatment program. She
isn't able to read to him at night or kiss him goodnight since the
state placed him with her ex-husband in May last year. She said she
was drunk with her son at a local motel pool and had a history of
alcohol problems.
She, like other local women, waited months to get into treatment and
relapsed several times in the interim. Now after five months in a
Serenity House treatment and transition program, she hopes within a
month to get her own apartment, start college and have her son live
with her again.
Local substance abuse agencies report an increase in women seeking
inpatient treatment and an increase in wait times. At Serenity House a
woman can wait about 90 days compared to 60 for men. Local treatment
beds for men are triple the number for women.
"It can result in someone saying, 'I tried and there wasn't anything
available and I'll keep using or I'll move to another area or kill
myself,' " said Randy Croy, Serenity House executive director.
Historically, there have been more beds for men because of their
higher involvement in the criminal justice system, officials said. But
some are seeing more women either seeking treatment or being
court-ordered. In some cases treatment is a condition to regain
custody of their children.
After legislators approved recent cuts in substance abuse funding,
local agencies are not optimistic about adding beds for the indigent
anytime soon. They're worried about maintaining the beds they have and
avoiding future cuts. Stewart-Marchman-Act Behavioral Healthcare,
Serenity House and Community Outreach Services are at risk of losing
about $1.1 million combined if the Legislature in the session
beginning in March doesn't approve one-time funding that agencies have
used for years to operate outpatient and inpatient programs.
"It would have drastic effects on services," said Reggie Williams,
local administrator for the state Department of Children & Families,
which contracts with the agencies.
Community Outreach Services in DeLand saw a 17 percent increase in
women in outpatient and inpatient services for the last six months of
2008 compared to the same 2007 period.
Stewart-Marchman-Act has seen a 9 percent increase in women entering
outpatient, inpatient and detox treatment between 2007 and 2008. For
short-term detox alone, there was a 24 percent increase with 580 in
2008. If state lawmakers don't approve $240,000 in funding, the agency
will have to cut in half its 14-bed program for pregnant women.
The agency is initially adding 50 treatment beds in July with the new
Vince Carter Sanctuary in Bunnell, but those will only be for men and
women with insurance or private funding.
As far as people waiting, Serenity House has seen an increase since
July 2007. About 100 people today, including 30 women, are waiting for
residential treatment compared to about 60 previously. An increase in
women sought treatment after the agency added 16 beds last January.
The Salvation Army in Daytona Beach currently has some vacant
treatment beds for women, but only for those who are
court-ordered.
Michel Macur called every day for three months trying to get into a
Serenity House bed. She used outpatient services in the meantime, but
"kept slipping."
"When they called me it was a relief and a blessing. I was just about
to give up and say screw it and I don't know what," Macur said. "It's
just like another blow in your life. Everything is falling apart
around you and you can't even get a bed."
She'd been an alcoholic for more than 20 years, drinking to deal with
depression from childhood issues, she said. She was in a
Stewart-Marchman treatment program with her son after he was born. DCF
has been in and out of her life since.
Now she's working and signing up for college. Her son, she said, has
"been my driving force."
Christy Thomas, 31, faced similar challenges. She waited in jail
almost two months in July to get a bed. She's in adult drug court on
charges involving crack cocaine. She said she had a crack problem for
two years after her mother died.
Since being at a Serenity House Daytona Beach program, she said she's
getting overnight visits with her 14- and 7-year-old sons at her
grandmother's house. She'll graduate from treatment in February and
attend college. She works at a local doughnut shop, volunteers at her
son's school and hopes to move into a rented house provided by
Serenity House.
"I deserve a better life than what I was doing. My kids deserve to
have their mother and a stable environment," Thomas said.
Paula Barreto, 43, who is in the same Serenity House program, went
into the Serenity House office every day checking to see whether there
was an opening. She was lucky she got into the program in November
after only 20 days. Earlier in 2008, she waited for about three
months, then decided to continue with a 12-step program instead.
She had a history of cocaine, alcohol abuse and snorting diet pills.
She has 19- and 17-year-old daughters who she lost custody of years
ago to their father, and a 5-year-old daughter in foster care. She too
has dealt with depression after, within a short period in 2000, losing
a husband to suicide and her mom to cancer.
She plans to finish treatment in May. In the meantime, she tells her
5-year-old, who she sees once a week, that she's sick and is getting
help "so I can be a better mom."
Local beds
The number of substance abuse inpatient and transitional treatment
beds for local men far outweigh the number for women. Some agencies
report a longer wait time for women than men. Here's the breakdown of
beds:
Serenity House
126 male beds
44 female beds
Stewart-Marchman-Act Behavioral Healthcare
128 male beds
20 female beds (14 are for pregnant women, women with young
children)
19 short-term detox male beds
8 short-term detox female beds
Community Outreach Services
16 male beds
16 female beds
Salvation Army of East Volusia & Flagler Counties
36 male beds
24 female beds
SOURCES: Serenity House, Stewart-Marchman-Act, Community Outreach
Services and Salvation Army.
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