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[article provided by Lona. Thanks!]

 http://www.okit.com/health/recovery.htm
02/25/2000

Choctaw program helps Native American Mothers on path to recovery
By Zach Maxwell

TALIHINA - Chi Hullo Li, a Choctaw program aimed to get Native American
mothers out of the cycle of substance abuse, has assisted more than 150
women and 100 children in its five years.

A Choctaw phrase meaning "I care for you," Chi Hullo Li is a federally
funded and tribally supported program used as a model substance abuse
program nationwide, but somewhat overlooked in its home state of Oklahoma,
Director Deanna Chancellor said.

"People in the state say, 'I wish I would have known about it sooner,'" she
said. "Unless there's a need for it, there's really no need for people to
seek it out."

A vastly overlooked population, most Chi Hullo Li participants are referred
through the courts or check themselves into the program. Using four federal
grants -- including a $948,000 grant from the Center for Substance Abuse
Treatment which runs out in 2000 -- counselors help the women through six
months of intense therapy at the program's facilities in Talihina. The
program calls for another six months of outpatient therapy for both mother
and children, including art therapy, job skills, GED attainment and other
resources.

About two-thirds of the women who enter show successful levels of abstinence
from drugs and alcohol. The average Chi Hullo Li participant is 30, with
nearly 11 years of education and an annual income of $4,388. One-third are
homeless when they enter, less than one in ten is employed, and most have
been subjected to the criminal justice system.

The women and children receive full medical and psychological evaluation
upon entering the program. "For many, it is their first time to get a full
evaluation," said program evaluator Pamela Thurman. "The gender- and
cultural-specific program helps in their recovery process where other
agencies failed."

The program is open to any Native American woman in Oklahoma, who has
children in her care that are at risk due to the mother's dependence on
drugs and alcohol. The program has assisted women from the Choctaw,
Chickasaw, Cherokee, Kiowa, Creek and Seminole tribes.
 

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