Pubdate: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 Source: Des Moines Register (IA) Copyright: 2006 The Des Moines Register. Contact: http://desmoinesregister.com/index.html Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/123 Author: Jane Norman, Register Washington Bureau Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/women.htm (Women) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) RECOVERY TIED TO FAMILY Unity With Child Was Key, Ex-Addict Tells Senators Washington, D.C. -- At 11, Allison Bruno of Cedar Rapids began smoking pot and drinking alcohol. At 13, she was introduced to methamphetamine by her mom, who was partying with friends. "I walked in on them one day, and my mom offered me some," Bruno recalled Tuesday before a U.S. Senate committee. "I truly believe I was addicted from that day on." For years to come, Bruno walked through a nightmare of addiction and homelessness, taking a brief break from meth only when she became pregnant at 15. "I picked up where I left off after I had my daughter," she said. Now 22 and clean for three years, Bruno told senators that she never would have broken out of addiction if it wasn't for "family treatment," in which women can keep their children with them while in recovery. The Senate Finance Committee is examining which programs work best when it comes to treatment for parents addicted to meth, one of the fastest-growing drug threats in America and a scourge in Iowa. There were 760 clandestine labs discovered in Iowa in 2005 and more than 1,350 abuse cases involving children with illegal drugs in their system because of the actions of a parent or caregiver, according to the Iowa Department of Human Services. The number of meth labs found in Iowa has dropped off significantly in the past year since Iowa restricted sales of cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine, a key meth ingredient. But use of imported meth remains a concern, state officials say. Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, said numerous reports indicate that meth abuse is on the increase nationally, especially among women of childbearing age. This has an impact on child welfare systems in states, and meth is a major cause of child abuse and neglect, Grassley said. "Additionally, one of the effects of meth is a dramatic increase in a user's sex drive," he said. "As a result, children are often exposed to pornography and sexual abuse." Grassley's committee this year will reauthorize for the next five years the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Act, which deals with federally financed services for foster children and troubled families. As part of scrutiny of what works and what doesn't in the federal act, aides said Grassley wants to look into targeting some new federal money into dealing with meth-related problems. That includes family treatment for addicts, family reunification and adoption. Currently there are three facilities in Iowa that allow parents and children to receive services together while parents are in treatment. Bruno said that after she had her daughter, Alexis, "it never crossed my mind that I was not being a good mother, because I had only known mothers who were addicts." When her baby was 8 months old, Bruno began shooting up meth with a man she met. She would leave her baby with the baby's father, who was not an addict, for weeks on end. Bruno said that she stopped using meth only when she checked into the Heart of Iowa women and children's treatment facility in Cedar Rapids. There she could have her daughter with her, unlike at facilities for single adults. "Together we were in treatment," she said. She had group therapy for 12 hours a day, while Alexis was in day care or counseling. Today, Bruno is a student at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, majoring in human services with the intent of becoming a social worker. She has a second child and is engaged to be married. Happily, Bruno's mother has kicked her addiction as well, and Bruno has worked through the pain of her neglected childhood. She has goals and plans for her own children. "Because of family treatment, I broke the cycle of addiction in my family," Bruno said. "My children will have a different childhood than mine." - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman