Volunteers of America’s Freedom House pilot program, among the first to be certified by the American Society of Addiction Medicine, reports success
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For some of these women, many in rural socioeconomic depressed areas of Kentucky (Appalachia, etc.), addiction was introduced when a doctor prescribed pain killers. Several Freedom House residents note receiving opioids from doctors in 8th grade through high school due to injuries or medical pain. “That was a time when doctors were encouraged to write prescriptions for opioids for anyone with pain,” said Jennifer Hancock, president and CEO of Volunteers of America Mid-States (the Volunteers of America affiliate that runs Freedom House.) “Prescription narcotics are highly addictive and the fact they were given to children without proper oversight is unconscionable.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the practice of overprescribing prescription opioids has contributed to a growing opioid crisis in the U.S. The misuse and abuse of opioids include prescription opioids as well as heroin and fentanyl, resulting in a significant increase in opioid overdose deaths. In a 2022 research report, “Sex Differences in Substance Abuse,” by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (part of NIH,) it also finds that women are more likely than men to be susceptible to craving drugs and to relapse, and therefore overcoming addiction is an even greater challenge for women than men.
Keeping children and moms together is one of the key successes of Freedom House. A number of recent studies demonstrate that removing children from addicted mothers undergoing treatment is detrimental. A 2015 study from the Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute found that, “Though the traditional response in our child welfare system has been to protect the children of mothers who use substances by removing them from their mother’s care, this study demonstrates that these policies may inadvertently be doing more harm than good.” The study also found that, “…substance abusing mothers who had a child removed from their care were twice as likely to have a subsequent birth, and three times as likely to have a subsequent alcohol or drug exposed birth.” Recidivism rates were high for mothers who lost their children due to addiction.
A National Institutes of Health 2021 report on the “Separation of Children and Mothers Who Use Opioids,” found that “Removing a women’s role as a mother, or taking her children away, can mean more than the loss of the role—it can also result in a woman losing all control over her drug use.” The study found women who were in rehabilitation for addiction and were allowed to keep their children were more likely to get clean and stay clean.” Not only were recidivism rates high for women who had their children taken away but suicide attempts were also associated with child removal, according to a study, “Gender, Addiction, and Removal of Children Into Care,” published in Frontiers in Psychiatry in 2022.
Hancock firmly believes that the women in Freedom House are finding success due to the organization’s holistic approach at not only helping with substance abuse but then also with life skills and employment. “It’s a holistic and comprehensive program designed to treat the women’s chemical dependency, break the cycle of addiction, unite families broken apart by addiction and promote the birth of healthy, drug-free babies,” she explained.
Freedom House, with locations in Louisville, Bowling Green and Manchester, is among the first to be certified by the American Society of Addiction Medicine. To date, less than a dozen locations have been certified in the country.
Using an evidenced-based clinical services model of recovery, nationally-recognized Freedom House addresses the cycle of addiction with children while simultaneously treating their mothers. The program offers individual, group and family counseling; drug and alcohol dependency education; parenting classes; life skills training; nutrition classes; vocational training and employment services; and childcare services.
Betty Asher, 33, is the proud mother of the 300th drug-free baby born at Freedom House. The birth of baby Jeremiah gave her a second chance at a future that she didn’t know was possible. Born and raised in Cynthiana, Ky., and in and out of trouble from her substance abuse since her teenage years, she faced incarceration in 2023. Because she was pregnant, the judge gave her the option of Freedom House. Now at Freedom House, where she gave birth to Jeremiah, she is learning how to be a successful parent while maintaining her sobriety.
Christina Compton, 37, is an employee of Freedom House but she’s also a graduate. Having lost custody of her two children and then being arrested while pregnant with her third child, she learned about Freedom House from a social worker after being incarcerated for six months and facing additional time. Her history of substance abuse began at age nine when a physician gave her narcotic pain medication for a gym injury. She gave birth a week after arriving at Freedom House. After graduating from Freedom House, Compton went to work there as an intake specialist.
Brittany Edwards, 35, entered Freedom House after struggling with her addiction and losing custody of her four children. Edwards became addicted when a physician wrote a prescription for narcotics after she miscarried at age 11. Having been through various unsuccessful treatment programs, she came to Freedom House. After graduation from Freedom House, she returned there as an employee. For Edwards and Compton, employment was a way to give back.
“We are so proud of the young women who come to Freedom House, do the hard work and set their lives on a new path that includes parenthood,” added Hancock. “The success is tangible. All you have to do is look at any one of those hundreds of healthy babies born at Freedom House, and you know we’re on the right track.”
For more information on VOA and its programs, visit www.voa.org.
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