CNN is reporting that a woman who lost her children while battling an addiction to crack cocaine has regained custody of them after being drug-free for seven years.
Yolanda Miller had 11 children while addicted to crack cocaine, all of whom the courts took away from her. The children resided with their grandmother while Miller lived nearby. One day, Miller says, God literally stopped her in her tracks, and she quit smoking crack cocaine. The family moved to a new neighborhood, where the kids still lived with their grandmother as court-ordered and Miller lived next door. Miller's mother died in 2005, and Miller took her kids in with her, knowing that they could be taken away at any moment.
Miller was naturally the clear caretaker, but the courts would have to override a previous court order against her. Linda Coon, Miller's lawyer and the chairwoman for the Chicago Bar Association's legislative subcommittee for adoption law, took Miller's case and knew that something needed to be done to help women in Miller's shoes.
Rep. Sara Feigenholtz sponsored the bill that Coon drafted in the Illinois State Legislature, which was passed in May 2009. The law allows for parents who have lost custody of their children to rehabilitate themselves and regain it if the adoptive parent is a blood relative and passes away. They believe that it is the only law of its kind in the country.
This is a law that shows compassion toward people who make bad decisions and correct their errors by improving themselves and their surroundings. Kudos to Miller for getting her life together, taking responsibility for her children and demonstrating that good intentions can yield good outcomes.
Read more at CNN.
In other news: Amy Whinehouse Laid to Rest.
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