I n addition to cuts to public safety, tax hikes, and the gutting of resources to the neurodivergent community, the advertised budget by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors could impact women and children with the proposed elimination of a program called “New Generations.”

Initially funded by a federal grant in 1993, New Generations is a residential program in Vienna for women and children who have a substance abuse disorder and/or co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders. New Generations provides specialized treatment for women who are pregnant or who are parents. Under the program, women can bring a child up to age four into New Generations, and once a child is born, mothers can bring their newborn into the program.

The program’s website notes that Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board and Christian Relief Services have partnered to run it for “over two decades.”

Residential treatment consists of individual, group, and family therapy, psychiatric services, medication and case management, and continuing care services to help women and their children transition back into the community. New Generations also includes parenting education, child-care services, and medical checkups for infants and children. Women in the program also receive assistance in finding employment and housing.

“Many of the women have a history of trauma and abuse,” said Peggy Cook, a retiree who helped to oversee New Generations.

Many women are reluctant to enter into treatment because it means giving up their children, but New Generations provides an alternative, Cook explained.

“The whole idea is to intervene and have better birth outcomes, and better access to treatment,” said Cook.

New Generations supports uncovering a genealogy of addiction and trauma, addressing the source or genesis of the disorder, and how to heal effectively.

Cook said that the program’s use of therapy helps women tackle “core issues” that “created” the substance use.

“They’re having trouble physically and emotionally, and they don’t have a job. They don’t have safe housing, and they don’t have positive, safe relationships in their life. Some of them are involved with the criminal justice system, and they come in, and by the time they leave, it’s a miraculous turnaround. They have their lives back together. They have a positive outlook,” Cook said.

“Now is a time when many people are vulnerable, and reducing services to the most vulnerable is probably not the best thing to do,” Cook remarked.

Eva, a New Generations client who has completed the program, told the Fairfax County Times that it was critical in turning her life around. To protect her privacy, she asked that only her first name be published.

“They taught me to love myself and to know my worth,” she said.“They taught me the red flags and signs of a bad relationship because, in the past, I looked past them, not feeling I deserved anything more. The education I’ve received here has been invaluable, and this is what true treatment is.”

The “28-day programs are not enough,” said Eva. “After living 30 years in active addiction, I have had to retrain my brain, learn to reframe things, and not just learn but use the coping mechanisms that I had lacked previously.”

Eva said she arrived at the Community Services Board, a local effort to connect community members to services, and self-reported to Child Protective Services, “begging for help.” “They mentioned several programs, and I said no, I want New Generations,” she continued.

Eva is a living example of the “miraculous turnaround” Cook cited.

“Since surrendering to the program, taking advice, accepting suggestions, and listening to people who had been through the trenches and came out the other side, I have too! I’ve had blessings upon blessings bestowed on myself and my daughter,” said Eva.

Eva sees that same “turnaround” stirring in the hearts of her peers in New Generations. “I’ve seen amazing changes in myself as well as the ladies that live at New Generations with me. They grow on a day-to-day basis, and they open up and share about their trauma. It bonds us,” she said.

Cook said that alternatives to New Generations are sparse in Fairfax County, with specialty programs for those suffering from addiction or mental illness slated to be eliminated, leaving no other practical option for a particular community in need in Fairfax County.

“General programs will still be available, but the specialty programs are being eliminated, and, unfortunately, once they go away, they won’t likely come back,” said Cook. While some general services might remain intact, she warned that a segment of Fairfax County faces marginalization.

Kimi, an alumnus of New Generations, said that she has recovered from addiction through the program.

“I genuinely believe I would not be at my current position without this program,” she said. “New Generations established the groundwork for my recovery, parenting, and healing journey. I am able to be a mother to my son, a daughter and sister to my family, a trustworthy and committed employee, and a supportive friend.”