Posted by Alice on September 27, 1999 at 17:15:38:
I've been guardian to a 12 year old girl for the past seven months. Her mom has been in rehab for the past six months. They called it voluntary but they used her kids as leverage to get her in. I have been involved, (she's an ex common-law, sister-in-law),with this woman and her two daughters for nine years. During most of this time the mom was either too high or too drunk to effectively parent her two daughters. Up until last October it would have taken either a major drug arrest or someone who actually witnessed the mom using drugs to get Child Protective Services involved. In October 1998 a new law was passed allowing CPS to remove children and order rehab for any parent they received numerous complaints of the same nature from a wide variety of sources, they no longer had to PROVE drug abuse. Of course the parents are offered a chance to go before the Family Court Judge and try to convince him or her they are not addicts, but they face the chance of loosing thier Parental Rights if the Judge don't believe them. This entire time the kids are either in the Children's Shelter waiting for Foster Care or placed with relatives.
Now here's the tricky part for me. I believe this mom needs to be in rehab. I was happy when the CPS worker showed up at my house. I am one of the people who can give the most damning testimony if this mom ever ends up in front of the Judge, and I'm willing to do it. For nine years I have watched this woman neglect her children in order to get drunk or high. I've taken her kids away from her for extended (read years) lengths of time.
I watched her older daughter, soon to be 15, begin drinking and using drugs at 11. She became sexually promiscuous at 12, the same year she was treated for gonnarhea. At 13 she attempted suicide, had a scare with hepatitis and was treated for her second case of gonnorhea. At 14 she again attempted suicide and is currently a ward of the State of Ga. living with an aunt.
So when is it okay to force someone into rehab? Or is it ever? This woman would not have gone in, epecially not an entire year, without the threat of taking her kids away. (Georgia took the older one while this was all going on down here in Florida)
Here's another hot potatoe. They implanted birth control in the older daughter without her permission or any kind of parental/guardian permission as well. Granted this is one child that should NOT be having children right now, it's just that they did not even ask.
If you've managed to read this far, here's another one. What about degrees of drug use/abuse? Is there a difference in how we/you see people who smoke pot daily and the guy that stops for happy hour daily and drives home? According to "THE LAW" drugs is drugs, I myself see a big difference in people's drugs of choice. Does the guy driving home drunk compare to the guy smoking crack in his bathroom? Does a line of coke snorted at a party compare with injecting it?
Back to the original question though. Is it ever okay to force rehab?
Alice