'COCAINE MOM' RESISTED AID, EXPERTS SAY

Waukesha Treatment professionals here say they are frustrated by their
failure to help Angela, the Waukesha County "cocaine mother," but have been
able to turn other women's lives around despite the drug's grip.

Angela has flaunted offers for help and revels in bucking the system,
according to social workers, medical personnel and law enforcement
officials. And they resent the media attention she's getting, while other
pregnant drugabusing women are getting the help they need.

"It's a slow, slow road because there is a lot of fear from these women,"
said Nancy Shuff, a prenatal substance abuse specialist with the Waukesha
County Council on Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse. "And it's one of the
most highly addictive drugs. The craving is intense."

Angela was forced into custody two years ago to protect her fetus from her
drug abuse. But the state Supreme Court later ruled it was illegal because
the law did not consider a fetus to be a child eligible for protection.

Angela, whose last name is being withheld by the Journal Sentinel to
protect the identity of her now 2yearold son, was charged Tuesday with
misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. She later told a reporter she
is nearly five months pregnant.

Shuff, who said Angela has rebuffed her attempts to help her in prenatal
care, said other social workers in the county are "scared to death" to deal
with her.

"She's dangerous territory," Shuff said. "People think 'what will I get
myself into legally, mediawise?'

"There have been offers, services galore" presented to her, Shuff said.
"She starts things but doesn't follow through. She enjoys being resistant .
. .

"The reality is we're working in this community to find these women and get
them to trust the prenatal care providers and connect them up to (drug
abuse) treatment providers," Shuff added.

A bill that would identify a fetus as a child eligible for protection has
passed the Assembly but has not yet been acted on in the Senate.

But Shuff said even the potential of such a law has caused more cocaine
mothers to hide.

"The word on the ground is 'We can't come forward. It's a trick.' Trust is
primo. We have to tell them that we won't turn you in to anyone," Shuff said.

Officials point to a 29yearold Waukesha woman as a success story. The
woman, who asked that her name not be used, says she's making strides but
is fighting a daily battle after seven years of cocaine and other drug abuse.

She used cocaine during two of her last three pregnancies, including a
daughter who is now 6 months old. She's been clean for a year, has a steady
job, is returning to school and has a good support system of friends and
counselors.

"I attend at least four support groups a week," she said. "If I don't, I'll
be back out there. Every day I crave it. Every day I still think about
cocaine and crack."

She entered treatment voluntarily after hitting bottom, but she said that
other women probably should be forced into help centers.

"When I was at the House of Hope (in Waukesha), there were a lot of women
who were forced to be there" under criminal court orders for violating the
law, she said.

They rebelled at first, she said, but some eventually accepted
rehabilitation. Others were released and returned to their destructive
behaviors of prostitution and other crimes anything to get drugs, she said.

"I did everything that you can imagine to get it (cocaine)," the
29yearold woman said. "At one point, my husband won $75,000 from a
settlement from an accident.

"The money was gone in three months. Believe me, we had a lot of friends
and we did a lot of drugs and then it was gone."

She said the addiction was so strong that even though she often wanted to
quit, she couldn't do it. "You go six or seven days without sleep until you
finally collapse. And then you do it all over again," she said.

Those behaviors are typical, said Ralph Kramer, vice president of clinical
programs and operations for Genesis Behavioral Services Inc., which
operates detoxification, residential and other treatment centers in the
Milwaukee area.

"Cocaine is a particularly insidious drug," Kramer said. "You need to be
involved in some sort of treatment for at least a year (to recover). And
then people need to maintain contact with a 12step support group for some
time, maybe even the rest of their lives."

Asked about statements made by Angela that she had quit cocaine and was
conquering her habit alone, Kramer said that would be virtually impossible.

"It's possible that she may have quit," he said. "But it's unlikely that
she won't be relapsing."

A year ago the Waukesha County Council on Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse
teamed up with an organization called the Up Connection in Waukesha to
develop a group to help pregnant drugabusing women with prenatal care.

The group doesn't counsel or provide medical services but handles referrals
to connect the women to existing services in the county, Shuff said.

She said that she has worked with about 24 women, most of whom are working
on recovering. Some, however, have opted to give up their children and have
returned to drugs, she said.

"One hundred percent of my clients have domestic violence issues and
patterns of extremely poor selfcare," she added.

But there are many more cocaineaddicted pregnant women than those 24
clients, she said. "There are no numbers to cite because a lot of these
women are not coming forward. We see a lot of emergency room deliveries
with the absence of prenatal care.

"I truly believe that every woman when she finds out she's pregnant wants
to be good to her fetus," she said. "But the addiction speaks louder."

Shuff said another major problem was the lack of available slots at
residential centers. Many have waiting lists.

Said Kramer, whose organization operates 25 sites in southeastern Wisconsin
and treats thousands of addicts every year: "Helping pregnant addicts
that has been one of the top goals of the state. If there's a waiting list,
those women get top priority."