Amber was told that her newborn son was addicted to opiates and that she wouldn’t be taking him home. Subsequently, she and her husband became solely focused on one thing: reunification. As a result, eleven months later, their son is waking up each morning at home. The Safe Babies Court Team™ Approach is reuniting families caught in the heroin crisis.
ZERO TO THREE’s Safe Babies Court Team approach transforms child welfare into the practice of child well-being by using the science of early childhood development. The program connects babies and their families with support and services that promote healthy child development, while at the same time ensuring speedier exits from the system.
Amber’s Story
While pregnant, Amber was taking a drug that reduces the symptoms of heroin and opiate withdrawal called Subutex. But it was too late. Both her addiction and the withdrawal medication resulted in her son being born addicted to opiates. During his month-long recovery at the hospital, she was notified that she would not be given custody of her son.
It killed me the day I found out my son wouldn’t be coming home… But my husband, Gary, and I had our hearts and minds set that we would do whatever it takes to get our son back.
– Amber
At a recent Safe Children Coalition roundtable meeting, Amber described how she and her husband sought support from local programs. They were referred to the Early Childhood Court (ECC) program, a system of child welfare services focused on reunification. The ECC program is a strategy that includes both a state-level systems approach and a local-level implementation approach, with their work based off of ZERO TO THREE’s Safe Babies Court Team core components. The program works with the child welfare system to identify infants and toddlers going into foster care who have parents or other custodians who want their children back.
After entering the program Amber and her husband immediately received substance-abuse classes, infant mental health education, parenting classes, and a case-management plan. The program typically lasts for three-to-six months. During that time Amber and her husband regularly visited their son who was first placed in a medical foster homes and then in foster care.
Their son, now 10 months old, is reunited with his parents and wakes up each day at home. Amber has been clean for 11 months.
Florida’s Heroine Crisis Is Affecting the Most Vulnerable
Unfortunately, Amber’s experience is becoming more common. Amber lives in Manatee County which is at the heart of Florida’s heroin crisis. From January to November 2015, emergency personnel in Manatee revived 1,200 people who overdosed on heroin and other opiates.
The heroin crisis is deeply impacting Manatee County’s infants and children. Accordingly, In the first six months of 2016, 213 children were removed from their homes, and 652 children were removed by the end of 2015.
The Solution: The Safe Babies Court Team Approach
This program does need to keep going and I hope in the future other counties will bring this to their community.
– Amber
Baby Court, and other Safe Babies Court Team sites, work to change local child welfare systems to improve outcomes for children and their families, and to prevent future court involvement in the lives of young children. The approach is successful at reuniting families caught in the heroin crisis.
The Safe Babies Court Team embraces families who participate and give targeted and timely services. Consequently, the adults feel valued as individuals and as parents while they learn how to support the healthy development of their children. Results show that children are reaching permanency three times faster than infants and toddlers in the general foster care population. Almost two-thirds of them find permanent homes with members of their families while only one-third of infants and toddlers in the general population exit foster care to family members.
Federal Level Response to the Heroine Crisis
Reunification isn’t always the outcome of the Safe Babies Court Team approach. However, its success has attracted the attention of U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida as he fights for solutions at the federal level to address the heroin crisis. His dedication to address the crisis resulted in President Obama signing the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act into law. He co-sponsored a bill to authorize $181 million of increased funding to address heroin and opiate addiction.
Rep. Buchanan recently called for immediate funding from CARA to be made available to Manatee county. He sought input from community leaders about which programs to support.
Buchanan: Where should federal funds fight heroin epidemic in Manatee County?: Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat… https://t.co/y4NklThmiV
— Bradenton Herald (@bradentonherald) July 27, 2016
For the sake of these kids, we all have to work together and come together.
– U.S. Representative Vern Buchanan, Florida
It was at this roundtable that Buchanan heard Amber’s story in person. In Amber’s county, 652 children were removed from their home in 2015 alone. Her story is testament to how this coordinated, community-based solution can improve outcomes for infants, toddlers and families caught in the heroin crisis.
“You will have no problem completing Baby Court if you’re serious about wanting your kids back and to live a clean, happy life and be productive members of society.” Amber said. “This program needs to keep going and I hope in the future other counties will bring this to their community.”
Show Your Support
Share the tweet below to show your support for the impact of the Safe Babies Court Team approach.
Our Safe Babies Court Teams reunite families! Read Amber's story: https://t.co/dYG9ULPeED @ZEROTOTHREE
— ZERO TO THREE (@ZEROTOTHREE) August 10, 2016
