"When you're using, you don't think that there's no money to buy food for your kids," she said. "All you think about is trying to get another fix."

About a year ago, L.S. decided to try again, this time for her three children.

"I called Child Protective Services to put them into foster homes until I completed drug treatment," said the mother, who has been drug-free for nine months and recently reunited with her children by fulfilling the requirements set by CPS. "I talked to my kids and told them, 'Mommy needs to get help.'

"I think about my 2 1/2 years clean time, and it makes me realize that if I relapse, life is going back to what it was," she said. "I don't want to feel lost again. If I don't do it this time, CPS will take my kids and I'll never get them back."A single parent, L.S. is living with her children in public housing. She sleeps on the floor with her daughter and would like another bed. "No matter how much you clean, there's always dust on the floor," she said.

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