What do you think about the current procedure for when a mother uses drugs during pregnancy and the baby is born addicted?

My opinion is that we don't do enough. I think there should be rehab facilities so that mother and baby can be together and form that crucial bond while the mother gets treatment for her addiction. While in rehab, she could be in general parenting classes as well as classes specifically for parents who's babies were born addicted to drugs (these children need a lot more care and patience - I know this because my sister's biological mother did meth throughout the entire pregnancy).

Then, when she's discharged from the rehab I think she should be given the tools and support to keep her from going back to her old way of life. Housing support, job placement, therapy, assistance with childcare, and help furthering/finishing her education - at the very least support in getting her GED if she didn't graduate high school and applying for scholarships if she wants to go to college. I think she should be put on a low-maintenence birth control such as the IUD and the family should be closely monitored for the first year. If at the end of that year the mother has stayed clean and taken steps to provide a stable and fulfilling life for her child then at that point the birth control can be removed and the family can be given more freedom, but I think they should continue to be subject to random drug tests and visits for at the very least one more year.

I don't believe in limiting or taking away reproductive rights 99% of the time, but I DO believe that adding a second baby into the mix of an already difficult to change situation would only make things worse; and I would like to think that most mothers in that position would be willing to go on birth control for a year if it meant she would be given a "second chance."

I realize that there's no way this would happen because CPS is over worked enough as is, it would cost a lot of money, many Americans wouldn't want their tax dollars going towards a program like this, and many other reasons. I just think this would be the most helpful thing to do in these situations.