April’s Story

April is a young mother whose life was turned upside-down by opioid misuse and addiction. April’s 7-year long battle with opioids began when she was looking for relief from back pain after giving birth. She eventually lost custody of her two sons. April conveys that once she lost her children, she no longer had any reason to even try to “be normal.” After going to jail, April was given probation with the stipulation that she get treatment for her substance use disorder. April tells us about the intensive outpatient treatment program for mothers that provided her with the coping skills, resources, and friendships necessary to enter recovery successfully and ultimately help her regain custody of her children.

Are you interested in using this digital story in training materials or programming? Click here for discussion questions to accompany April’s story.