Kansas City health and social service groups are testing a new approach for mothers undergoing drug recovery by keeping families together.
Children's Mercy Hospital neonatologist Jodi Jackson tells KCUR-FM that the birth of a child can be an opportunity for transformation, even for women who've used drugs for years. Jackson says mothers in recovery who can stay with their children are more likely to stay sober. She says it can potentially end generational cycles of substance abuse.
Keeping families intact can be costly, requiring funding from a patchwork of federal, state and private agencies for years.
National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children official Stacee Read says there's potential for abuse since many treatments are narcotics themselves.
But Jackson says breaking the cycle will reduce foster care and state intervention costs.