Time was, women could come in for counseling seven days a week. Now only the newer patients are allowed on the weekends.
On a recent morning in group therapy, crowded into a small room clearly too warm for them, the women complain about that.
Several say they would come on Saturdays or Sundays if they could. Many have lost custody of their children or are living away from home while they try to shed the drug life. They find themselves with little to do. "Having idle time on the weekends is dangerous," one says.
They are talking about success stories today, as they absently fidget in their uncomfortable seats. One chomps on Fritos from the vending machine. Another puts stickers on her painted toenails. Another is cleaning a spot off her T-shirt with a Tide pen. But they are all listening to the stories - some familiar, some inspiring.
One woman, in a flowered tank top, proudly announces she is getting an unsupervised visit with her children in a few days, the first time they have all been together in two years. One is now healthy enough to start planning a birthday party for her two young sons - a celebration she missed because of her addiction. The others applaud.
Another woman, though, is worried. Next week marks the anniversary of the death of another baby she had and she isn't sure she is strong enough to stay clean.
"You have come so far," one of the women tells her. The others nod. This is the only place where they get this kind of affirmation that yes, they are on the right track.
But a spirited debate soon erupts about whether they are technically clean. Many of the women are on methadone - about half of the women are put on the drug at enrollment, Walters says, but the rate rises to 85 percent by the time of delivery. One says she went to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting where she took a key chain for being sober, only to be scolded by another participant who told her being on methadone is just like being on heroin as far as she was concerned. She was still using a narcotic as a crutch to get her through the day.
The women in CAP are a racially diverse group, with more white patients than black in recent years. The women typically are older and have been through drug treatment before. Still, a quarter will test positive for drugs beyond methadone when they give birth. Some of the women even return to the program when they are pregnant again.
Walters doesn't know the relapse rate. She doesn't have the funds to follow the women.
