FAQs For Families And Parents In Addiction Treatment

Yes, there are treatment programs for single parents, allowing them to bring their children with them to the program though they are not as common as general treatment programs.

These programs are more common for single mothers than for single fathers, but they do exist.

Learn more about rehab programs for single parents.

Programs such as those for parenting moms allow parents to keep custody of their children while undergoing treatment.

This means that the fear of surrendering a child doesn’t have to prevent single parents, and especially single moms, from seeking addiction treatment.

Learn more about child custody during a rehab program.

Not necessarily. There are levels of outpatient care that take clients through the same addiction recovery process as inpatient care. The difference is that clients can sleep at home.

If you have a positive support network at home, then this might be a viable option for you. But if you have a severe substance use disorder that requires inpatient or residential treatment, you will need to leave your family for a time.

Learn about how a rehab program will affect your family.

If you are a single parent, you may have to consider several options for your kids while you are in a residential treatment program.

If you have relatives such as parents or brothers or sisters, they may be willing to take care of your children for several weeks.

If that’s not the case, then you will need to find a rehab program that allows you to bring your children with you.

Discover how to take care of your kids when you go to a treatment program.

There are some programs that allow you to bring your children with you. Many of these are aimed at women who are parenting or women who are pregnant and parenting.

But there are also some programs for men who are single parents as well.

Find out more about rehab programs that allow you to bring your child.

There are programs available for pregnant or post-partum women who need addiction treatment services while they are taking care of a newborn.

Learn more about rehab programs for mothers with newborns.

Some rehab centers offer childcare services while you are in their outpatient program. So for the hours during a partial hospitalization program or an intensive outpatient program, others will take care of your child or children until you are done.

This enables you to go home with your kids after treatment is over for the day.

Discover more about rehab centers that offer childcare services.

Yes, you can. Depending on the nature of your position in the eyes of the criminal justice system, some situations may take longer than others.

The fundamental thing to do is to enter a recovery program and complete it successfully. This will provide a foundation for everything else you need to do to regain custody of your child.

Find out more about regaining child custody after finishing a recovery program.

If you are in the child protective system, this question may be answered by a court with other relatives or the foster care system being options for custody.

If you are not, then you will need to decide who takes care of your child.

Learn about what may happen to your child while you are in a rehab program.

It is important to note that enrolling in a rehab program is seen by the court as a positive step, not a negative one. In other words, children are removed from homes where substance abuse is not being addressed.

If you decide to enter a treatment program before substance abuse leads to neglect of your child, then you should be able to keep custody of your child while you are there, provided you have made sufficient arrangements for their care.

Learn about the issue of addiction treatment and custody.

Yes, you must continue to pay child support while in a rehab program. Chances are that if addiction has interrupted your custody of your child, it may have also interrupted child support payments.

Some rehab centers offer training and education about child support so that you are empowered to pay it.

Learn about paying child support while in a rehab program.

Theoretically, yes, you can, but it would probably depend on whether or not you have custody of your child when you enter rehab.

If you have custody of your children and they are with you in a treatment center, you should still be able to collect support. But bear in mind that these issues are often complicated, resulting in a different answer for each person.

Learn about collecting child support while in a rehab program.

There may be local or state grant money available for single parents. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) also offers a variety of grants specific to individual needs.

So it is definitely worth asking the rehab center you are looking into if they have financial assistance to offer you.

Learn about options for financial assistance for single parents in a recovery program.

Keep a few tips in mind when talking to your children about why you are going to a rehab program.

Be honest and tell them what they need to know but use age-appropriate language. Words like “addiction” or “substance abuse” will not mean anything to young children. You may want to use words like “sick” and say you have to “go away for a while.”

But reassure them that you are coming back and that you will get better.

Discover more about how to tell your kids you are going away for addiction treatment.

Many rehab centers allow visitation, but each center is different in terms of how it governs visitation.

In general, families are usually welcome to visit you during the appropriate time.

Find out more about visitation while you are in a rehab program.

Yes, many do. Parenting is a skill like other life skills that may have gotten lost in the course of addiction.

Receiving instruction on parenting will help you reconnect with your kids and let them know that you are going to be a more consistent presence in their lives.

Discover more about parenting classes offered by treatment facilities.

Start by asking family members if they are willing to house and care for your kids while you are in a recovery program.

If you don’t have family who are able to do that, you can consider voluntarily surrendering your child to foster care. There are states that limit the amount of time you can surrender custody to six months or a year.

Learn about housing for your kids while you are in addiction treatment.

That depends on the rehab center. There is no set number, but probably large families would have to make other arrangements for some of the older children.

Find out how many children you can bring with you into a treatment program.