New Treatment Program to Help Families with Recovering Addicts

MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit partnered with River Edge Behavioral Health Center to jumpstart Family Dependency Treatment Court (FDTC).

According to the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Judge Philip Spivey, the court aims to keep kids with parents recovering from addiction, instead of putting them back into foster care.

The state of Georgia granted the court $66,430 dollars to start the program.

“Addiction, even if you get the right treatment, there is going to be relapses…that’s normal,” Spivey says, “It takes longer sometimes to get control of the addiction than we have under the Adoption and Safe Families Act to achieve permanency for these children. We only have 15 months to do that.”

There are currently 11 families participating in the program.

Spivey added the program needs care packages for the families, and other donations. To learn how you can help, call program coordinator Genna Wilkes at (478) 445-7060