ONDCP celebrates the holiday season at Family Based Treatment Center

ONDCP celebrates the holiday season at Family Based Treatment Center.

This year, ONDCP celebrated the holiday season with a visit to the Women with Children Program at Gaudenzia treatment center in Baltimore.  The Women with Children program is designed as a long term residential treatment program for pregnant and parenting mothers. Women are able to bring up to two children (under the age of 10) to live with them as they undergo treatment. The program is designed to address complex, gender-specific needs of mothers and their children, and offers supportive services such as education, job readiness, and housing, many of which are essential to recovery. In addition to the treatment regimen followed by their mothers, Gaudenzia provides children with drug and alcohol prevention and education programs while at the facility.

As many of the women told us, being able to keep their children with them heavily influenced their decision to enter treatment.  In many cases, mothers may choose not to seek treatment because they will be unable to care for their children, who will enter foster care or be placed with relatives.  Keeping families together removes a barrier to recovery. This comprehensive, family-based treatment program, and others like it, are changing the lives of addicted women and their children every day. 

For more information about Gaudenzia or family treatment, click here