Pubdate: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2005 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc. Contact: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274 Author: Debbie Parkes, The Gazette Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/women.htm (Women) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) FAMILY IS PART OF THE TREATMENT The Portage Addiction Centre's Mother-Child Program Helps Women Turn Their Lives Around With Their Children by Their Side Bicycles and strollers sit in the yard. There is a daycare centre, and young children play happily in a park. The scene is not exactly what you would expect at a residential treatment centre for drug addicts. The Portage centre, on Lake Echo in the Laurentians about 50 kilometres northwest of Montreal, has earned a solid reputation, having helped turn around the lives of more than 10,000 addicts since it opened in 1973. But less known is its mother-child program. When the centre first opened, staff wondered why so few women came for treatment, program director Kimberly Thibodeau said. Finally, they figured it out: mothers with young children worried that if they admitted to a drug problem, they could lose custody of their children. So the mother-child program started about 15 years ago. For now, it's run as a subsection of the main adult program, with a capacity of 10 women and their children. If all goes as planned, next spring, the mother-child program will move to Montreal, where it would become more specialized, offering more services and taking in as many as 25 women. For now, the moms and children live in four cottages at the Lake Echo site. Stories of hope - and some of sadness - take place at the centre. "Bonjour, la famille," says Elyssa, 20, the senior resident conducting this morning's meeting. "Bonjour Elyssa," the 24 women respond. Portage uses a so-called therapeutic community approach, with residents gradually taking on responsibilities for running the daily activities. Most verbal exchanges are in French, but English is also used. Constant themes are learning to identify one's feelings, to ask for support and to speak out assertively when there are problems. "First, Julie will read the Portage philosophy," Elyssa announces. Later, she invites Valerie, another resident, to give the "inspirational message of the day." "True happiness doesn't cost a lot," Valerie says, explaining how she's learning to find happiness in simple things - walks in the forest, talks with friends. Later, the women in the mother-child program get together to talk about their weekend. "I've made lots of progress," Julie Girard, 23, tells the group. She proudly explains how in the past she quickly lost patience with her children, but last weekend was able to calmly explain things to them instead. Her smile fades to sadness. Though her youngest child, a one-year-old, and a 4-year-old, live with her at Portage, her two other children - ages 5 and 7 - live with Julie's mother. Portage allows each woman to bring a maximum of two youngsters to live with them full time so as not to jeopardize the addicts' therapy. As well, the children can be no older than 8. "Older children are carrying around too much baggage," said program manager France Landry. After years of living with a drug-addicted parent, their behavioral problems are usually severe, she explained. Another mother in the program, Nadine (a pseudonym), 37, offers a suggestion: The next time Julie goes to her mother's for the weekend, why not find someone to babysit her two youngest, so the older girls get special time with their mother. Then comes Nadine's turn. She is so depressed, she's at risk of slipping. "Last weekend, I realized that I feel this huge emptiness whenever Jonathan is gone," she said, referring to her son, 7, who was spending the weekend with his father. "When my son is there, my life has meaning," Nadine says. The mother-child program also offers special services for the children. "We often see children taking on the parental role," Thibodeau says, explaining the role-reversal pattern is common among children of addicts. Jonathan, Nadine's son, completed a seven-week program called Mom, I have something to tell you. Each week, Jonathan and his mother met with an educator who helped him talk about how his mother's addiction affected him. He holds us a poster-size paper. On it, he had drawn a house, and him inside. During the sessions, he pasted pictures that captured what his life was like. One shows empty bottles. "I saw the empty bottles you left out," he tells his mother. "I felt all alone." There are mothers who turn their lives around thanks to the program. For others, the scars are too deep. That clearly was the case of one mother, who walked out of the program at the end of August after six months - leaving her daughters, ages 4 and 9 months, behind. A week later, the children were picked up by Youth Protection services and placed in foster care - causing much sadness among the other women in the program. "As sad as that is, it's probably the best thing for the children," Serge Bouille, director of the Lake Echo campus, said. Another benefit of the mother-child program, he said, is Portage workers are a watchful eye. When a mother's progress is too slow, putting her children in jeopardy, Portage alerts Youth Protection. "At least with us," Bouille said, "there's someone to sound the alarm." Mother-child program to get major boost If all goes as planned, this spring, the program will relocate to a soon-to-be renovated building on Lionel Groulx Ave. in Little Burgundy. It will be a vastly expanded program - with 50 beds for as many as 25 women and their children, and drug addicts who are pregnant. "It will be much expanded and much enriched over what we were able to do at Lake Echo," said Peter Howlett, Portage's president and chairperson. There will be programs addressing poverty, and parenting skills, he said. The move will allow the women greater access to community services, from CLSCs to hospitals. Access to health care is particularly important to allow pregnant addicts to be closely monitored, Howlett said. The move is possible thanks to a $5.75-million contribution from the Lucie and Andre Chagnon Foundation and matching funding from the provincial government. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake