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Sen. Durbin introduces legislation for families to get better drug treatment

BYLINE: JENNIFER A. BOWEN, News-Democrat

LENGTH: 278 words

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin introduced legislation Thursday that could help meth addicts and their families have better access to family-based substance abuse treatment.

The legislation, known as the Family-Based Meth Treatment Act of 2007, is sponsored by Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn.

"Family-based treatment for substance abuse acknowledges the important connection between a parent and a child," Durbin said. "Many parents cannot successfully utilize substance abuse and mental health services if their children are excluded. More importantly, they should never be forced to make that choice."

At least 70 percent of the child welfare cases in Illinois involve a substance-abusing parent.

Family-based treatment centers combine substance abuse recovery with mental health counseling, medical treatment, parenting, education and legal services.

If the bill passes, the act would:

Allow additional funding for the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to award grants to programs that provide family-based substance abuse treatment for parents and pregnant women.

Require giving priority to programs serving areas affected by high rates of meth addiction with special attention to rural areas.

Provide funding to organizations that specialize in comprehensive, family-based substance abuse treatment services for nonviolent offenders as an alternative to incarceration.

In 2005, Durbin and Coleman co-sponsored the Combat Meth Act, which was included as part of the Patriot Act and signed into law. The bill included funding set aside for prosecutors and law enforcement agents for rural communities.

Contact reporter Jennifer A. Bowen at jbowen@bnd.com or 239-2667.

LOAD-DATE: March 16, 2007

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper

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