COURT REHABILITATES DRUG USERS AS MOMS

15-Month Program Provides Counseling, Stable Environment

When Martina Brown gave birth to her youngest son in November 2009,
she knew she wouldn't be leaving the hospital with him.

Ms. Brown, 39, had used drugs throughout her pregnancy. And when
doctors discovered her newborn had drugs in his system, he was
immediately placed in foster care, she said.

On Friday, after Ms. Brown and nine other women graduated from the
Superior Court of the District of Columbia's Family Treatment Court,
she recalled how far she had come in battling her drug addiction since
hitting "rock bottom."

"I'm on my feet now. I know my road to recovery will still be a
struggle," said Ms. Brown, who was homeless when she entered the program.

She now lives in transitional housing with her son in Southeast and is
enrolled in classes to become a home health aide.

Active since 2003, the substance-abuse treatment program has helped
dozens of women get sober and reunite with their children after losing
them to social services because of drug or alcohol abuse, said
Magistrate Judge S. Pamela Gray. Judges recommend women for the
program, but the women have to demonstrate commitment to the program
to graduate.

"A lot of people just say they want to get their children back and
they won't accept they have this problem and they need to work on it,"
Judge Gray said.

The 15-month program places women in a residential treatment facility
for six months where they are able to live in a stable environment and
receive drug, alcohol and mental health counseling. At some point
during their stay, their children are typically moved into the
facility, allowing counselors to observe how the mothers and children
interact. The children's health and development are also tracked.

"The case management is really holistic in looking at the entire
family's needs," Judge Gray said, noting that when women receive the
same types of services piecemeal they tend to be less effective.

After the six months, the women and children move either back into
their own homes or into transitional living if they were homeless
before joining the program.

"They gave me stable living and permanent housing," said one of
Friday's graduates, Breana Obenson, 21.

Ms. Obenson said she lost custody of her 2-year-old son in August 2010
after someone slipped her PCP and she went to the hospital to get
checked out. When she tested positive for drugs, social services took
custody of her son and placed him in foster care.

"I never in a million years thought something like this would happen
to me," she said, adding she hopes to regain custody by the start of
summer.

At the graduation ceremony, held in a courtroom on the bottom floor of
the D.C. Superior Court building, judges and case workers applauded
the graduates and offered them words of encouragement.

"What you have done is extremely difficult," said Judge Hiram E.
Puig-Lugo, deputy presiding judge in D.C.'s family court. "Don't ever
let anything or anybody hold you back because you have what it takes."

Others acknowledged the biggest difficulties may still lay
ahead.

"Your work is just beginning. There will be hurdles and storms, so
don't give up," said Yvette Smith, a 34-year drug user who graduated
from the first Family Treatment Court session in 2003.

Ms. Brown said she has already been tested once. Less than a month
after moving into transitional housing, her mother died and she
relapsed. The incident has only strengthened her resolve.

"I didn't want to use grieving as an excuse to go back to using," she
said. "I want to stay sober."

Relapses happen, Judge Gray said, but women who graduate the program
are better equipped to handle them.

"I've been on cases for six years and I could count on one hand the
people who relapsed and the children came back into care," the judge
said. "Not to say women don't relapse, but one of the things they
learn is there are resources out there so they've been able to pick
themselves back up."