When women use drugs during pregnancy, their baby is often born addicted to that substance.

It's called neonatal abstinence syndrome.

And 2022, Kentucky reported almost 850 cases in rural counties.

The rate of babies born with it is nearly twice the rate in urban counties.

A recovery facility in eastern Kentucky is working to change that one family at a time.

And now they're expanding.

All right, let's shovel some dirt.

Volunteers of America had a special announcement.

We're expanding our Freedom House program here in Clay County, Kentucky.

This is a program that we've been operating for the past four years.

It started in Louisville more than 30 years ago.

And since coming here, we've enabled women to come into treatment to bring all of their kids with them.

And we take care of the whole family at a time.

But we're out of space.

So today we announced a really special groundbreaking of new expansion of this program.

We're going to double the capacity so that we can serve even more women and their kiddos.

The program will have in total with these units and other units, 18 additional slots for young women and their children to do transitional housing.

And that's a big issue because from a policy standpoint, that's how we get these young ladies and these children on a really good trajectory so they don't go back to the environment from which they came.

The fact that we allow mom to bring all of her kids into treatment is the number one reason why this program has been so effective, because we never want mom to choose between taking care of her health and taking care of her kids.

So we are able to do that together.

And it's really special because we can take care of kids and help them heal from trauma, too.

This becomes a prevention program for our youngest clients and a secondary prevention program for our adult moms.

I learn how to love myself again, to be able to forgive myself and forgive what I've done to my children, to myself, to others.

They learn how to do everything over because once you're in a in that age, you started it.

That's where you go back to when you get sober.

So I had to learn everything.

You know, how to clean, how to cook, take care of myself, you know, take care of my kids.

And I taught me all of that.

And most importantly, they taught me that it was okay for me to let go of my past.

You're changing that trajectory.

We're saving health care costs in the future.

We're also helping individuals be employable and have jobs.

It's going to help a whole lot more people, you know, because there's only so many beds here.

And, you know, there's a lot of people out there that's addicted to drugs and with family.

And I see kids getting together, dying over it.

You know, and I just it's going to be amazing for him because he's going to be able to help more people in the community and to be able to guide people back into society, force society.

I just want everybody to see that they can do it.

House Bill six The main budget bill passed by the Kentucky General Assembly, includes $10 million for Volunteers of America middle states over the next two years.