Babies Born to Addicted Mothers a “Troubling Epidemic”: Maine Governor

By Join Together Staff | February 6, 2014 | 1 Comment | Filed in Community Related, Drugs, Government, Parenting, Prevention & Youth

Maine Governor Paul R. LePage this week said the births of 927 babies born to mothers addicted to drugs last year in the state is a “troubling epidemic.” The babies represented more than 7 percent of all births in the state, The New York Times reports.

In his State of the State address, Governor LePage said the babies create “a lifelong challenge for our health care system, schools and social services.” He added, “It is unacceptable to me that a baby should be born affected by drugs.” He urged legislators to add four special drug prosecutors and four judges to sit in enhanced courts, and to add 14 agents to the state’s Drug Enforcement Agency. He did not mention a role for treatment, the article notes.

“We must hunt down dealers and get them off the streets,” Mr. LePage said. “We must protect our citizens from drug-related crimes and violence. We must save our babies from lifelong suffering.”

Last month, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin said his state is suffering from a “full-blown heroin crisis.” In his State of the State Message, Governor Shumlin said he wants officials to respond to addiction as a chronic disease. He focused his entire speech on drug addiction and its consequences.

He called on the state to treat heroin addiction with treatment and support, instead of punishment and incarceration. “In every corner of our state, heroin and opiate drug addiction threatens us,” he said. “The time has come for us to stop quietly averting our eyes from the growing heroin addiction in our front yards, while we fear and fight treatment facilities in our backyards.”

Free PRO-ACT Facilitator Training for Family Addiction Education Program (6 PCB Credits) Saturday, February 15, 2014

When someone is addicted to drugs or alcohol, the disease impacts the entire family. PRO-ACT needs people with a sincere desire to help families recognize and address a loved one's addiction. We particularly need facilitators in the Philadelphia suburbs: Doylestown, Bristol, Pottstown, West Chester, Media and Northeastern Philadelphia areas.         PRO-ACT is offering this free, day-long Facilitator Training to teach volunteers how to help. The training will take place on Saturday, February 15. 9:30 am until 4 pm The PRO-ACT Recovery Training Center 444 North Third Street, Suite 307 Philadelphia "I always feel energized after a session because I'm able to help struggling families just through what I know" said Judy McQuarrie, a veteran Family Program Facilitator.   Instructor Kathy McQuarrie, Family Education Program Founder PCB Credits This Facilitator Training is approved for 6 (six) hours of Pennsylvania Certification Board (PCB) credits. Being a facilitator for the Family Program requires a commitment since it runs every month in multiple locations. In return for the free training, PRO-ACT requires at least 10 hours of volunteer service.

Registration Is Required To register for the free New Facilitator Training on Saturday, February 15, please call Noni West at 215-345-6644 or email her here. For information about the Family Education Program and registration call 1-800-221-6333. www.councilsepa.org PRO-ACT Administrative Office 252 West Swamp Road Unit #12 Doylestown PA 18901 PH: 215.345.6644 FX: 215.348.3377    PRO-ACT Philadelphia Office 444 N. 3rd Street Suite 307 Philadelphia PA 19123     PH: 215.923.1661 FX: 215.923.2216  PRO-ACT is an advocacy and recovery support project of  The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc.

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Did you hear the forecast?

Are you as tired of this weather as we are? Car stuck in ice. Events cancelled. No school. Kids bored. Lost gloves. Hat wet. Out of peanut butter. And branches down!          This is one tough winter for anyone, but for those of us in need of our community, our support system, our programs and our fellowships, the isolation is even more challenging. If you have electricity, though, this is when you should double up on making phone calls and using social media.         You can also get on your computer and explore how to expand your knowledge of addiction recovery. Just Google those two words and a whole world of resources will open up. Hopefully, one that will come up is PRO-ACT's Recovery Walks! 2014--or just click here.                                                                                        Gotta work out!

PRO-ACT and The Council will host our 13th annual Recovery Walk on September 20 in Philadelphia to celebrate addiction recovery. Everyone is welcome--you don't need to be in recovery. It provides a fun way for families to spend a day together and break the multi-generational impact that addiction has on them and our communities. And it's a great way to catch up with friends. Bring grandma, the family dog, your kids, and other loved ones.

The Walk has several purposes, but one is fundraising so that we can continue to provide the free recovery support services and programs that many of you have benefited from. For those unfamiliar with what we offer, here's just a keyhole glimpse of what we have done in just the last year alone (we could go on and on but by the time you'd get to the end, the snow may have melted): The Philadelphia Recovery Community Center, with 12,726 visitors, provided one-to-one  support to 1,561 individuals with a combination of peer-based recovery support services, face-to-face direct services, and other trainings and events. The latter included a monthly average of 76 peer-led workshops, groups, events, and/or social activities.  In Bucks County, 207 youth participated in school-based groups receiving "Life Skills Training" or "Too Good For Drugs" evidence-based curricula. And 531 students participated in psycho-educational groups to assist with coping skills and behavioral health needs. 418 young people aged 15-20 completed the Juvenile Awareness Program, which educates them on the various effects of substances on them and others.  In our Family Education Program, we helped more than 250 family members understand what they must do to get their loved ones into recovery and shed their own enabling behaviors. We provided consultation, technical assistance, best practice guidance, group facilitation and assessment services to 48 secondary school teams and 20 elementary school teams.  The Philadelphia Recovery Training Center served 2,356 individuals, providing a combination of peer-based recovery support services, face-to-face direct recovery support services and trainings and workshops. They also trained 102 new volunteers, 32 of whom became Recovery Coaches and 35 became Group Facilitators. 94 percent of participants in our DUI Program reported that our classes helped them gain new insight into their substance use and allowed them to develop new alternatives to replace using alcohol and other drugs. And, of course, we hosted 20,000 participants in PRO-ACT Recovery Walks! 2013 at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia.

Being snowed in is a great opportunity for you to contact your family, friends and associates and have them commit to your team for the Walk. If you click here, you'll find many handy tools and advice on how to form your team and get people excited about the Walk and collecting donations. Beginning now will save you a last minute rush in August or September. Remember, there's a prize for the team that collects the most in donations and also for the largest team.         Now, please take a look outside and see if your neighbor needs a push!

To make a donation to the Recovery Walk, please click here 

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