People who struggle with substance abuse problems need a lot of help. Not some help, or occasional help. A LOT of help. Why? Because addiction takes over. It infiltrates every aspect of your life, and directs your thought patterns. It becomes a routine part of your daily activities, and affects how you think and feel and respond to stimuli. In short, whatever drug you are addicted to, controls you more completely than you control yourself.
Quitting drugs is hard. Even harder when you’re a parent!
So in order to overcome that addiction, you have to fight a very long and painful battle that for most people, is simply more than they can handle on their own. Now consider how challenging and stressful parenting is – the baby that cries for hours because of gas, or the toddler who throws temper tantrums throughout the day, and the teen whose hormonal roller coaster makes them hard to predict, and harder to handle. Trying to manage day-to-day parenting commitments while also trying to overcome an addiction is almost impossible for most folks.
Substance abuse needs to be addressed with a very particular way
When a parent is struggling to care for their children while dealing with an addiction, they don’t need a CPS worker to show up and force them to go to a once-a-week substance abuse counselling meeting. Should they fail, that same CPS worker will take their kids away. It’s a recipe for disaster, because one therapy session or support group meeting per week isn’t nearly enough for a person struggling with substance abuse!
Helping people with addictions is expensive!
Unfortunately, this is a tricky situation. Addressing substance abuse, whether it’s prescription medication, illegal drugs, or alcohol, is a major undertaking. It requires time, effort, commitment, and above all else – money. Therapy and counseling sessions aren’t free. So it’s understandable why the state isn’t excited about footing the bill for thousands of hours of substance abuse counselling. And yet, if we as a state are truly committed to saving children’s lives and preserving families, this is a fight we need to be willing to have.
The only way to turn the tide is to be willing to do what it takes.
If we want to change the direction our state is headed in – with more and more children being abused every year, and the number of people addicted to drugs on the rise, we have to be willing to do whatever it takes. That means, if parents who are struggling with substance abuse need more than one meeting per week, then they should get it. If what’s needed is daily support groups and weekly check-ins with struggling families, then we as a state should find a way to make that available. Otherwise we are fighting a battle we already know we’re going to lose!
We are in a difficult place, as a state.
Despite the claims made by Michigan’s DHHS that they have the best interests of children at the center of al their choices, facts prove this to be incorrect. An agency whose dedication is soley to the betterment of children should know that the only way to better the lives of the children they claim to help, is to help their parents. This will ensure safer homes for those children, and parents who are equipped to care for them. And the only way to provide those things, is to ensure that their parents have whatever help they need to overcome their addictions without the threat of losing their kids.
Have you been accused of neglect or abuse because of substance abuse?
Parents who are struggling to properly parent their children because of substance abuse need help, not condemnation. Assistance, not threats. They need access to the proper resources so that they can overcome their addictions, without having to live with the added fear and stress of having their children taken away from them for fighting a battle they simply can’t win on their own! If you or a loved one have been accused of child abuse or neglect in Michigan, call The Kronzek Firm at 866 766 5245. Our skilled and experienced CPS defense attorneys are standing by to help you!