Recovering mother recounts reunification; Project 0 outlines effort to reduce waiting children

At the same Senate Children and Youth Committee meeting, Leah Holland, who identified herself as "a mother of 4, a child of God and a grateful recovering addict," delivered a detailed personal testimony about childhood abuse, later substance use during pregnancy, the loss of custody and her eventual recovery and reunification with her children.

Holland told the committee she was removed from the hospital after the birth of a son and said the early interactions with the assigned caseworker were traumatic. She credited an attorney appointed by DHS, a foster family (named in her testimony as Britney and Cody Chancellor) and treatment services for supporting her path to…