Changing 

Case for Support for the family-centered residential treatment facility through CORE Treatment Services:

Across Wisconsin, too many women struggling with substance use disorder face an impossible choice: get the treatment they need or stay with their children. Most residential treatment programs do not accommodate children, and the result is devastating. Mothers are forced to choose between their own recovery and remaining with their families—leading many to forgo care entirely. This heartbreaking reality contributes to deepening cycles of trauma, family separation, and untreated addiction.

CORE Treatment Services is launching a transformative, first-of-its-kind solution in Wisconsin: a residential treatment facility designed specifically for mothers and their children, from birth to age 12. In this model, mothers receive comprehensive, trauma-informed care while their children receive on-site educational and behavioral health services. Families stay together and heal together, without the fear of separation.

This project directly addresses one of the most pressing gaps in our behavioral health system—supporting mothers without compromising their role as parents. Women are more likely to enter and stay in treatment when they can bring their children with them. And children, many of whom have also experienced trauma, receive the critical support they need to grow and thrive in a safe, nurturing environment.

Our approach is grounded in holistic healing—treating not just the symptoms of addiction, but the underlying causes, including trauma, poverty, and generational adversity. This model is about more than recovery—it’s about building resilience and restoring the mother-child bond, which is often the strongest motivator for long-term success.

What makes CORE uniquely suited for this work is our deep experience in trauma-informed care, peer recovery services, and community-based treatment in rural and underserved areas. We have built a reputation for programs that not only treat the individual but uplift entire families and communities. We’ve listened to those we serve, and this project is a direct response to the voices of mothers who need a safe place to recover with their children by their side.

This facility will offer individualized treatment plans, peer support, life skills training, and recovery programming for women, while children receive early childhood education, emotional support, and behavioral care—all under one roof. The care is coordinated, integrated, and designed to meet the complex needs of families in crisis.

We know that this work does not happen in isolation. Our vision includes cross-sector collaboration with behavioral health providers, child development professionals, and county agencies. This program will serve as a demonstration of what’s possible when systems work together to prioritize whole-family recovery and healing.

Importantly, this model is scalable. With the right investment, we will not only launch a successful program in this community, but we will also create a blueprint for other counties and states to replicate. Our long-term goal is to shift the standard of care so that mothers across the country no longer have to choose between recovery and their children.

Funding will directly support staffing, program development, data infrastructure, and communications to evaluate and share our outcomes. It will also help establish the workflows, policies, and partnerships needed to ensure sustainability and support expansion efforts in the future.

This is more than a program—it’s a movement toward healing families, strengthening communities, and transforming how we approach recovery. Together, we can create a future where mothers receive the care they need without losing the children they love. With your partnership, we can make this vision a reality. Let’s change lives—one family at a time.

Stronger—together.