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PARRIS N. GLENDENING, Governor
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Ch. 551
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WHEREAS, 62 percent of children in Maryland (over 2,700 children) entering
out-of-home placement in 1999 had a parent with an identified substance abuse
problem; and
WHEREAS, The child welfare system in the United States spends an estimated
$20 billion per year to care for abused and neglected children of drug- and
alcohol-abusing parents; and
WHEREAS, The projected cost of a child entering the foster care system in
Maryland is $60,000 per episode; and
WHEREAS, Nearly one-third of substance abusers achieve sustained
abstinence in their first attempt at recovery and an additional one-third eventually
achieve long—term abstinence; and
WHEREAS, 44 percent of females in drug treatment report being in treatment
in order to retain or regain custody of their children; and
WHEREAS, 48 percent of the clients in residential treatment with their
children said they would not have been interested in treatment if they had not been
able to bring their children with them; and
WHEREAS, Women who complete residential treatment have significantly
higher abstinence, employment, and arrest-free rates than do noncompleters; and
WHEREAS, Victims of child abuse and neglect and children of
substance-abusing parents have increased risk of substance abuse problems; and
WHEREAS, Linking child welfare and substance abuse programs would make
both more effective; and
WHEREAS, The strict time limits placed for family reunification in the federal
Adoption and Safe Families Act make timely provision of quality substance abuse
treatment programs essential; now, therefore,
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:
Article - Family Law
SUBTITLE 12. INTEGRATION OF CHILD WELFARE AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE
TREATMENT SERVICES.
5-1201.
(A) IN THIS SUBTITLE THE FOLLOWING WORDS HAVE THE MEANINGS
INDICATED.
(B) "AT-RISK PARENT" MEANS A PARENT OF A CHILD ENTERING
OUT-OF-HOME PLACEMENT OR IDENTIFIED AS AT RISK OF ENTERING
OUT-OF-HOME PLACEMENT.
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- 2893 -
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