‘SHAME ON US’
Lawmakers, union demand restoration of substance abuse recovery programs
Connecticut state employee Latoya Pemberton acknowledged right away that she was nervous about speaking in front of a crowd, but also said she knew her message was too strong to let fear stop her. Pemberton is a recovery support specialist for the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and she joined other SEIU 1199 unionized mental health providers, community leaders, and elected officials in a call for Connecticut to restore certain substance abuse recovery programs for women and girls.
“I also crawled into an addiction facility. I did not know where my lifeline was going to come from. And I thought I was dead,” Pemberton said of her own experience. “The only thing that was alive about me was that I was blinking. And they took me in. I didn’t have to concern myself with dollars and cents, because I needed to save my life that day. I’m so thankful for that amount of love that was given to me when I walked into that detox,” she said.
The providers and advocates made their call for restoration as part of International Women’s Day at the State Capitol; SEIU 1199 members said the state is turning women and girls away from receiving “life-changing and lifesaving services due to the staffing crisis.”
Specifically, they said the DMHAS in-patient treatment STAR program for women had 30 beds that have been consolidated with the men’s units since the beginning of the COVID pandemic and has not been restored, and the Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility for girls was closed by the Department of Children and Families.
Pemberton said these closings are deeply personal to her, as she understands the critical importance of STAR program offerings and similar programs for girls and women, as she was in need of and received those services at a point in her life.
“They deserve the right to live, and not have to worry about criteria, dollars, and cents. They should not have to worry about that, Pemberton said.
Others agreed with Pemberton and called for Gov. Ned Lamont to meet with front-line staff and with mental health and addiction advocates this month, in hopes of finding solutions to lead to the reopening of the STAR program and DCF’S Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility for women and girls after three years of temporary closure.
Donna Brooks, retired director of the STAR program for women at Connecticut Valley Hospital, said part of the need is demonstrated by what she has seen: when a woman starts a journey towards recovery, they can become contributing members of their communities, and often inspire other women to embark on recovery journeys.
“She becomes a mentor. She becomes a sponsor. She becomes a speaker at AA meetings, they do all kinds of things. We never turned a woman away before private sector care institutions, which is why the governor and legislature are committed to continuing to fund job training programs in the healthcare industry long-term,” he said.
Staffing issues
Pemberton said her heart broke when she recently checked in with women and children at a program, as they shared that they would be displaced in two days with their babies, due to staffing issues.
She said that before the pandemic addiction services in Middletown offered detox and rehab for up to 110 people, with 30 beds for the women’s-only STAR program and now, with staffing shortages, there are just 15 beds available for women in a coed unit.
Pemberton said she has witnessed women in treatment come into coed groups only to be confronted with men who had caused traumatic experiences for them. She also said she has seen women and their children displaced and in one facility, where 21 beds were dedicated to women, 11 of those beds were taken away and repurposed to treat men.
“Women deserve to be safe. We deserve to have a right to feel and have recovery without our abuser worrying about traumatizing us even further,” she said.
She said she hopes Lamont hears their pleas to have a meeting to talk about helping women.
“We just want to have a meeting and talk to , so can help us prevent our daughters, sisters, nieces, wives, mothers, and grandmothers from dying in the streets alone or hit their head or in the bathroom of a Dunkin Donuts overdosing on fentanyl, we need help. And I’m here to ask for that help,” she said.
Saleena White, a child services worker at DCF’S Albert J. Solnit Children’s Center South Campus, a state-administered Psychiatric facility for Connecticut’s children younger then 18, said her unit was closed in 2019 and COVID-19 took them offline, due to staffing shortages and now only two of three units are open.
Her unit admitted adolescent girls 12-18 years of age, taking clients in from all walks of life.
“They needed us, we needed them. What we need is staffing. We need money. We need help to help them,” she said, noting they had 24 clients three years ago, but now are only serving seven girls.
“Something is wrong in this system. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know how we’re gonna fix it. But that is not fair to these young girls that need us. Twenty-four beds, seven girls right now. All these girls are in our local hospitals, waiting eight months to 10 months to come to our program. Why? Where is the money? Help us,” she said.
White said these programs also are needed because many of the girls are on the street and dealing with serious issues, including teen pregnancy and sex trafficking.
“The kids that are going through tough times. The world is on their shoulders, they have enough to deal with every day. They need us to give them a foundation, to make sure we give them the life skills… who else is supporting these girls, except us?” White said.
Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund Executive Director Janée Woods Weber said while the state has declared itself a leader in women’s health care, it can only back up this claim when talking about reproductive rights, and is falling short with not prioritizing women’s mental health services and reopening the STAR program.
“Those of us who live at the intersection of gender oppression, economic disparity and racial injustice, women of all backgrounds, but especially women with low income have been shouldering the biggest responsibilities and burdens for our families and communities,” she said. “It is time for Connecticut to reciprocate by ensuring that women and girls have access to critical and life sustaining mental health and addiction services. That’s why we need help.”
State Sen. Saud Anwar led the crowd to chant “actions, not words,” to encourage participants not not accept the facility closures.
“Today, everybody will have on their Facebook, they will have about International Women’s Day…and how are we going to respond to the challenges that the women are facing and the most vulnerable women that are facing at this time? Actions are needed, and the words don’t matter when the actions aren’t followed,” he said.
He recalled going to Connecticut Valley Hospital with the late state Rep. Quentin Williams a few months ago where they encountered a woman who was abused and traumatized and was in the unit with her abuser in the same place.
“Shame on us. Three years ago, the facility that was to take care of the women was combined with men and women together, when the women were supposed to find a safe space. There was no safe space. That was why we were there,” he said.