By Ryan Welton, Oklahoma Memo
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A new women’s health report says Oklahoma is escalating criminal charges against pregnant women with substance use disorders — and advocates warn the trend is making outcomes worse, not better.
Caitlin Beasley of Metriarch said the organization is “a research and policy organization that focuses on women here in Oklahoma” and that the “Paths to Recovery” report grew out of rising concerns over infant and maternal mortality. The findings: increasing felony child-neglect charges against pregnant women suffering from addiction is discouraging them from seeking help for their addictions.
“I think probably the biggest conclusion that we came out of it with… is that we’re moving kind of in the wrong direction as far as our approach to this,” Beasley said, adding that many women now fear reaching out for treatment because it may lead to arrest instead of support.
Amanda Gaddy of Family & Children’s Services’ Women in Recovery program says the alternative works: “They're not going to get the treatment and the services they need when they're going to prison. They're going to come out the same way that they went in, and that is not going to be what's best for that family.”
The program keeps mothers with their children while providing addiction treatment and reunification support rather than incarceration.
The full report, including policy recommendations for lawmakers, is available at metriarchok.org.
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