On Life's Terms:
Mothers in Recovery follows four women in gender specific
residential treatment in San Rafael, CA over three years. The women arrive voluntarily or through drug court, but
they all desire the same thing: custody of their children.
(c) 2012 Sheila Ganz
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The Women
he women undergo dramatic
transformation as they learn recovery and parenting skills and attempt
to become self-sufficient.
As their stories unfold, the film takes an unflinching
look at America’s war on drugs aimed at pregnant and parenting women
with addictions, and the legacy of imprisonment and foster care on their
children. We meet:
T
Rachel,
22,
escaped to the residency one night when her 35 year old
abusive boyfriend was arrested for selling drugs. She has two
daughters, ages 1 ½ and ten months. Rachel began drinking at age 11 and
using meth at 13. Her father was using meth and introduced her to it.
As a young girl, she hid from her abusive uncle. She wants to stop the
cycle of abuse.

Lisa S, 41, had to
petition the judge to go to treatment and give birth outside of the
prison walls. She has spent 7 of the past 9 years in prison for
drug possession and sales. Her boyfriend of 11 years has also been in
and out of prison. She hopes it will work out with him. Lisa doesn’t
have a good resume, but wants to get a job and raise her daughter in a
clean environment.
,
31, left Hawaii after pressing charges against
her violent boyfriend who beat the crap out of her with her baby in her
arms. She was doing online prostitution before voluntarily going into
the program. Her mother was given temporary custody of her 3 ½ year old
daughter after calling the police when Leslie ran up $6,200 on credit
cards. It hurts Leslie to see that her daughter is doing better without
her. She “wants to be there for every part of her life.”
Leslie

Lisa R, 38,
relapsed
after three years. She has two daughters, ages 7 ½ and 3 ½. One
afternoon in a parking lot she put her youngest daughter on the hood of
the car to talk to her and a man called the police. He thought she was
abusing the girl. It wasn’t true, but Lisa was arrested and then
returned to the program. She is determined to get back on track.
Julia,
24, almost lost her newborn son to foster care when he tested positive
for drugs at birth. She got hooked the first time she smoked meth. If
Julia doesn’t complete the program, she will lose custody of her son. She
gets emotional when thinking that she could lose him. Her mother didn’t
raise her because of drugs.
On Life's Terms
combats the social stigma that mothers on drugs
are lost to society forever by illuminating how a gender specific
treatment program can help women overcome life’s adversities to claim
their dignity and self-worth. Themes explored in the film are
substance abuse, domestic violence, self-empowerment, motherhood and
family.
On Life's Terms
will be a tool for social change
by stimulating a national dialogue around the issues of mothers with
addiction and provide an alternative to incarceration and breaking family
ties. To date, there are less than 150 programs in the United States.