For control of births, addicts to get $300

Members of the non-profit organization Project Prevention, who were in Tucson this week, say birth-control pills and condoms won't suffice for this offer.

In an effort to reduce the number of babies born to addicts, the group is hoping to persuade local women to undergo a tubal ligation, get an intrauterine device implanted, or get a long-term contraceptive shot.

Once the women provide proof of the birth control, they will get paid, said program founder Barbara Harris, who was at Downtown Tucson's Ronstadt Center Tuesday to spread the word.

Men must undergo a vasectomy in order to receive the $300, she said.

"I can give you a list of 100 reasons why they shouldn't conceive babies," said Harris, who lives in North Carolina but expects the program will continue in Tucson through local volunteers. "You have to call it a consequence of action.

"The foster-care system is so overcrowded. They keep adding kids and it's not OK. What type of life do they have? It's preventable and that's what bothers me the most," she said.

Addicts will receive an additional $50 for providing referrals, she said.

The program verifies that participants are addicts before making any payouts.

While in Tucson, Harris said, she made contact with about 50 people who were interested in participating. She also left behind several fliers and put up posters advertising the program, she said.

Sahuarita resident Natalie McGee, who volunteers with several local groups that help children, had asked Harris to make the local visit.

McGee, a local business owner, plans to continue Harris' message in the Tucson area by, among other things, reaching out to people in local prisons and jails.

"We have a huge drug problem and Child Protective Services has a huge caseload," McGee said. "Then you've got the huge economic downturn. Something's got to give. What if we could reduce the caseload?"

McGee, 69, has met drug-addicted women with eight, nine and 10 children.

"People should not be having children when they are on drugs," she said. "I grew up in a foster home. I had a drug addict for a mother and an alcoholic for a father. … It's a scary, awful thing to go through. Addicts don't take care of themselves, and they aren't in a position to take care of their children."

Harris, whose program is now in 39 states, said she's heard plenty of criticism. She said the program has nothing to do with abortion, although she's heard that said. She's also heard her program called racist, and from people who say her program is like spaying and neutering for addicts.

"I've heard it all; nothing stops me," said Harris, who has adopted four children who were born to a drug-addicted mother.

If participants can't pay for their birth-control procedure, Project Prevention will pick up the tab, McGee said.

"We're rewarding them for taking responsibility for their lives," she said. "It's their choice and it's between them and their doctor. There's no coercion."

But W. Mark Clark, president and CEO of CODAC Behavioral Health Services in Tucson, wonders about the message that Project Prevention is giving to addicts. Clark has worked in the addiction field since 1974.

"Certainly there's nothing wrong with improving access to contraception. It appears to me they are talking more about sterilization than contraception. That approach encourages a message that recovery is not possible," Clark said. "That message is so wrong on so many levels."

Clark would rather see such a group putting its money toward treatment and recovery options for addicts. With so many funding challenges, those options have been shrinking, he said.

"That's really where we'd be better off focusing in these challenging times," he said.

Must register

Project Prevention says any addict who participates in its program and offer must register through a toll-free number before they obtain the birth control: 1-888-302-7225.