As a Mother Falters, a Father Strengthens His Resolve

Girl's Parents Fight Addictions in Effort to Win Back Custody

In the third in a series, staff writer Mary Otto recounts one couple's journey through the Family Recovery Program, an experimental Maryland court attempting to help drug addicts get clean, then get their children back from state custody. The story reflects scenes the reporter witnessed or, when noted, were recalled to her. In the last story, Stacy Coleman was back on the streets, looking for crack.

January-February 2006

"Mr. Cromwell," Judge Martin P. Welch asks, "how are you?"

"One hundred percent better than I was last week," Keith Cromwell replies. "Everything is fine."

But he is alone. His girlfriend, Stacy Coleman, is not in court with him. She wasn't there the week before, either.

She has relapsed again. After a relapse in November, she was placed in a new inpatient drug treatment program. She made it through the holidays clean -- clean enough to visit 6-month-old Keyona, the couple's baby in foster care.

Then, a week ago, Coleman had an argument with the house manager and left her program. She headed straight back into her old life: stealing, hustling and smoking crack.

Since New Year's, however, Cromwell has been in a month-long treatment course at Mountain Manor, near Camp David, a religious shrine and a ski resort.

The bare trees, rolling hills and cold, fresh air seem a world away from Baltimore, where Cromwell grew up in housing projects, the third of 10 children. In a constant round of therapy sessions, the quiet Cromwell has been encouraged to open up and confront facts about his life, his addiction and the people he has hurt. Keyona.

"I've seen you up; I've seen you down," the judge is saying. "But you are always showing up."