Northern Arizona does not have options for mothers of substance exposed newborns to go through treatment with their young children.
What is Our Mission?
The Mission.
We will foster healthy family attachments in the midst of walking through the difficulties that inevitably come with substance abuse. Families will be given a space to engage with the community and with each other as they are empowered and move forward toward a meaningful, sober, and connected future.
The Current Practice.
Currently, Northern Arizona does not have options for mothers of substance exposed newborns to go through treatment with their babies. In Flagstaff, when babies test positively for substance exposure, they are separated from their mothers and each go through treatment on their own. Typically babies are placed with a foster family while their mother goes to an inpatient treatment facility. Research shows this is not the most effective way to help families through substance abuse issues.
The Benefit.
Keeping families together for treatment offers benefits to the mother as well as her baby. A baby’s development within the first year of life builds the crucial foundation that will impact their learning, growing, and successful development throughout the rest of their life. Being deprived of a healthy attachment with their mothers can lead to an attachment disorder later in life. This can contribute to a cycle of substance dependency issues in families.
The Risk.
Likewise, mothers rely on the attachment they form with their babies as their greatest motivation for getting better. When they are removed from their baby for treatment, they are at greater risk for depression and are less likely to successfully complete treatment. Separation brings additional trauma to both baby and mother and takes away the most important support in each person’s life.
The Solution.
Sage Home will offer treatment options, alternative to child removal, where these families can address substance abuse issues while living together rather than apart. Our programming will foster healthy family attachment in the midst of walking through the difficulties that inevitably come with substance abuse.
The Future.
Families will be given a space to engage with the community and with each other as they are empowered and to move forward towards a meaningful, sober, and connected future. The residential treatment facility at Sage Home will strengthen the current system and help fill the treatment gaps, but we need your help!
Can you help us get there?