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A recent homeless sweep in the Santa Clara wash in Santa Clarita brought to the surface one of the many problems that can go along with homelessness, addictions and pregnancy.

Santa Clarita Leaders Offer Resources For Pregnant Addicts

A recent homeless sweep in the Santa Clara wash in Santa Clarita brought to the surface one of the many problems that can go along with homelessness, addictions and pregnancy.


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At the sweep, Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station Deputy Dan Dantice talked to one of four known homeless pregnant heroin addicts in the city.

“Some of them are in the process of getting outreach, some of them, they don’t seek the outreach and this is the lifestyle they have chosen, some of them have addiction issues,” Dantice said. “It’s difficult because it’s an individual choice for them. Some of them have gone and seeked the outreach and moved out of the wash and gotten help and some of them, unfortunately, they pack up and move to other parts in the city and sometimes out of the city.”

One of the resources some of those women turn to is Action Family Counseling, a rehabilitation center in the Santa Clarita Valley.

“We deal with a lot of pregnant women who are on drugs,” said Cary Quashen, owner of Action Family Counseling. “The treatment we give them is not too physically different from other patients, but it is a little different emotionally.”

No state has enacted a law specifically criminalizing drug use during pregnancy, but prosecutors have used other criminal laws to prosecute pregnant drug users, according to a recent report from a non-profit organization.

Women across the nation have been arrested and charged with a wide range of crimes, including possession of a controlled substance, delivering drugs to a minor (through the umbilical cord), corruption of a minor, child abuse and neglect. Others have been charged with assault with a deadly weapon and manslaughter.

California is not one of the states that has seen criminal prosecution against pregnant drug users.

“The case is ‘un-reportable’ by law to child protective services because the child is not born yet,” said Cary Quashen from Action Family Counseling. “And that’s actually kind of sad.”

Although the law enforcement doesn’t always step in, there are many resources in the Santa Clarita Valley that offer help.

“These women don’t have much of a support system,” said Tammy McGivern, from Bridge to Home in Santa Clarita.

“We can’t let any women with children of any age stay at the shelter,” McGivern said. “If they meet with a case manager and then sign an agreement with what they are willing to do, we find them a motel for up to 30 days.”

McGivern talked a bit about a homeless family recently who came to Bridge to Home with a very young child.

“We reached out to people and we were able to fill their motel room with baby essentials, and even collected enough for a few months of rent,” McGivern said. “This community really rallies to help people.”

If you or anyone you know, needs help with an addiction or a pregnancy, call Action Family Counseling at (661) 297-8691.

“The addicted women who come to us pregnant are given vitamins and the right medications for them and their unborn child. We incorporate an OBGYN to make sure the woman knows all of the information and facts about what is happening to her and the child,” Quashen said. “We try to give them everything we can to help them and the baby.”

Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.

Related: Study Links Medical Marijuana Laws To Increases In Youth Use

About Action Family Counseling

Action Family Counseling has drug and alcohol residential treatment locations in Santa Clarita, Piru, and Bakersfield; Intensive Drug and Alcohol Outpatient in Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, Ventura, Pasadena, and Bakersfield, Action Family Counseling is here to help you.

Action Family Counseling’s primary goals are to maintain abstinence, stabilize co-occurring illnesses, and increase quality of life. We support and reinforce change in behavior patterns so that adolescents and adults, or clients and their families can fully indoctrinate the philosophies and principles needed to remain abstinent and stabilized for life.

Action Family Counseling accomplishes this by providing an effective treatment approach developed by the Department of Health and Human Services that includes a multi-disciplinarian personalized approach by a treatment team. Once a patient is identified, we provide an initial screening and assessment, which allows us to properly diagnose and place patients in the appropriate treatment setting.

Once a patient completes our intake process to our residential program he or she receives 24-hour crisis management, individual counseling, group therapy, family education and counseling, treatment planning, routine and random toxicology screening, pharmacotherapy and medication management, education about Alcohol and Other Drugs and mental health issues, self-help and support group orientation, case management services, and discharge service planning with a transitional service plan to our Intensive Outpatient treatment program to ensure a continuum of care.

Visit their website here.

KHTS AM 1220 - Santa Clarita Radio

Santa Clarita Leaders Offer Resources For Pregnant Addicts

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About Kimberly Beers

Kimberly Beers is a Santa Clarita native. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from California State University, Northridge in 2013. While attending the university, she focused her attention on news writing and worked as a primary news writer for the campus' award winning radio station and televised news program. She began writing news stories for KHTS in 2014 and hopes to have a lifetime career dedicated to writing and sharing the news