A Chicago program is giving mothers drug addiction treatment and a chance to stay with their children while they recover from their illness.
The St. Monica Program is a drug addiction treatment program that started in 2016 by Maryville Academy, a Catholic organization that designs programs for families. There are several drug addiction treatment programs offered by Maryville but the St. Monica program on the west side of Chicago is the only one that allows mothers to keep their children while recovering from their addictions.
Data released by the Illinois Department of Health (IDH) indicated that 2,410 people in the state died from a drug overdose and 1,946 of them were linked to opioids in 2016.
There were 1,040 people who died from a heroin overdose. Opioid analgesics killed 1,266. The IDH also indicated that 725 of the overdose deaths were attributed to women.
The only overdose numbers that declined last year were the numbers of deaths of those under 18 years old as only nine died from an overdose.
St. Monica has also established an avenue for many of these women to not just get help, but find employment and housing. There is a workforce development program that was developed to assist the mothers with job readiness training.
The St. Monica Program is designed to help women ages 18-35 and children up to age 10 for six months. There are currently 22 dormitories where mothers and children sleep in the same room. Adjacent to the property is the clinic where mothers can easily obtain drug addiction treatment services such as counseling as well as medications needed for their recovery.
The facility also includes a kitchen, laundry rooms, a big family room and two playgrounds for the children.
When the mothers are accepted into the facility, they are usually given a preliminary assessment to gather how they will generally react to treatment. The mothers are examined for mental health, medical, emotional, socioeconomic and neurological conditions. The doctors then will set up a plan for the patients to follow on their attempt to get clean.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services refers most mothers that need treatment to Maryville. If one is not declared a good fit for the program or appear unable to care for their children, they will not be admitted.
The program includes Recovery Coach Technicians who work personally with each woman to help them with their sobriety and guide… (Continue Reading)
Author: Robert B. Hayek
Robert B Hayek is a reporter for Addiction Now and covers features and local spotlight stories. He previously worked for Fox Sports as a production assistant as well as a writer and reporter for an online website called Real Talk Sports Network. He has lived in Southern California his entire life, is a lover of books and writing and also surfs. Contact Robert at roberth@addictionnow.com
