Center to aid moms on meth

MIDVALE — The state's newest addiction-treatment center has opened in an effort to attack the state's newest drug problem: moms on methamphetamine.

"It is rare nowadays that any woman who is referred for treatment doesn't list meth as her primary drug of choice," said Pat Fleming, director of the Salt Lake County Division of Substance Abuse. "They and their children are the fallout from all those lab busts we used to hear about on the news.

"The operators are in prison, but the women like those who come here are dealing with an addiction that is ruining their lives. This center helps them pick up the pieces."

Meth addiction ruined Jodi Gelino's life — for a while. She became a daily user of the drug, first to get high and later just to get through the day.

"It got so I couldn't get out of bed without it," Gelino said. "It does all these neat things for you at first, but then you realize you can't live or function without it."

In March 2001 the state took her 8-month-old daughter into custody. Gelino was enrolled in treatment and civil drug court, had one relapse in 16 months and says that "today I am a person of worth and I have a happy life and I wouldn't trade that."

Gelino says treatment is the only option for meth users who are losing control. "I haven't seen any beautiful things happen on their own to someone who is addicted to drugs. Things will only get more out of control."

In the past fiscal year, 1,243 meth-addicted mothers of dependent children entered treatment. In Utah, meth is the only illegal drug that women use more than men do, and more than 67 percent of women in treatment for meth are mothers, according to new state substance-abuse data.

That means any treatment must include child care, which wasn't available to Gelino but will be available now at the live-in Valley Mental Health Cottonwood Family Treatment Center. The center, which opened Wednesday, is an effort by a variety of agencies to break mothers of their drug habits without breaking up their families.

Susan Mitchell, coordinator of Valley Mental Health's substance-abuse services for women, said meth-using mothers live in unstable conditions and tend to have marginal vocational skills and severe drug-related cognitive impairment that requires more treatment.

The center will improve all those aspects of their lives — in a stable residential setting that includes their children. "We find often that women are a lot more likely to seek treatment if they know they won't have to be apart from their children," Mitchell said.

The new center, one of four the state eventually hopes to have, has room for 12 mothers and 18 children. Length of stay is expected to be about 90 days and include at least 25 hours per week of intensive individual and group counseling along with case management, health care, parenting, job training and use-prevention services.

"Our goal is to offer stability and skill level that once they leave they are better able to make it on their own," Mitchell said.

According to a state substance-abuse treatment report to be issued within the next few weeks, 774 men with dependent children used meth as their primary drug this past fiscal year. It was the second-most prevalent substance used among men with dependent children; alcohol was first, with 1,461 admissions for alcohol treatment.

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E-mail: jthalman@desnews.com