INLAND COUNTIES COPE WITH KIDS FOUND IN LABS

Medical And Social Workers Examine Children To Assess The Effects Of Living
With Meth And Its Addicts.

The fair-haired 4-year-old girl clung to her mother's neck with both arms,
oblivious to the strangers circling around her that November afternoon.

Earlier in the day, while she played and colored at a High Desert
preschool, sheriff's narcotics agents had discovered a methamphetamine lab
in her father's home.

Officers found toxic chemicals in the garage just feet from a toddler-sized
battery-operated Barbie jeep. Plastic baggies containing methamphetamine
and 4-inch-long straws were strewn about the house. One sat atop a neatly
printed letter to Santa Claus.

Having spent the weekend at her father's Apple Valley home, the little girl
- -- who lives primarily with her mother -- will be examined several times
during the next 18 months to ensure that she has suffered no ill effects
from the poisons and carcinogens common in meth labs.

A specially trained public health nurse, a county physician and a social
worker will ensure that she is properly documented and monitored to keep
her away from the dangerous conditions of a meth lab in the future.

She was the 20th child served by San Bernardino County's Drug Endangered
Children (DEC) program in the past half-year. Like the DEC program in
Riverside County, San Bernardino's fledgling system aims to protect
children found at drug labs by coordinating medical and social aid.

In California in 1998, more than 750 children were found living in homes
where methamphetamine was being manufactured. The Inland Empire, during a
recent 18-month period, accounted for nearly 500 children found living in
meth labs. And police and social officials estimate that thousands more
went undiscovered.

Experts fear that the combination of chemical poisons, neglect and poor
social conditions creates maladjusted children who pose a drain on school
resources, health services and eventually the criminal justice system.

In the past, team members say, children found in labs were too often
dropped off with relatives. Some of those relatives were in the drug trade
themselves. Others were powerless to prevent the children from drifting
back to the labs, where they could suffer lasting physical harm or be lured
into the trade themselves.

"The main advantage is that we know that we're getting the children help
where we weren't getting them any help before," said Detective Kevin Burke,
coordinator of the Drug Endangered Children program for the San Bernardino
County Sheriff's Department.

"Meth has been around long enough where we're seeing second-generation
cooks. If we can break the cycle, maybe we can get them out of that drug
environment."

Authorities say it is all too common to find children living in
methamphetamine labs in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. The two
counties are among seven in California to be awarded $350,000 grants from
the Governor's Office of Criminal Justice Planning to address that problem.

The DEC program was launched in March 1996, four months after three
Riverside children -- ages 1, 2 and 3 -- died in the explosion of a
methamphetamine lab operated by their mother, Kathy James.

James never tried to rescue her children from the burning trailer. "The
mother was apparently high on methamphetamine and ran off, leaving the
children to perish," said Fran Clader, spokeswoman for the Office of
Criminal Justice Planning.

Ultimately, the goal is to protect children from all of the problems
associated with drug environments, from chemical poisoning and explosions
to abuse and neglect.

"People who are cooking meth usually aren't in the best condition to
provide good living situations for their children," Clader said.

The Inland Empire programs began operating in July after months of
preparation and meetings involving representatives from social, medical,
police and criminal-justice agencies.

From April 1998 through June 1999, San Bernardino County Sheriff's
deputies responded to 153 methamphetamine labs where children were present.

Nearly 290 children were found in the labs. Most received minimal or no
medical examinations before being turned over to relatives whose
backgrounds had not been scrutinzed. In Riverside County, more than 180
children were found in labs last year.

Often the children are found living in poor conditions. Homes that house
labs often are dirty, lacking food and sometimes water, gas and electricity.

Growing up in a toxic atmosphere that some police officers would enter only
while wearing respirators, the children typically lack proper
immunizations, medical care and dental care.

"I do have one infant that was picked up, and she had to be hospitalized a
few weeks later for breathing problems," recalled Sue Legg, a social worker
from San Bernardino County's Department of Children's Services. "We don't
know whether that was because of a history of asthma in the family, or her
exposure to the lab, or a combination of both."

During a typical DEC response, a public-health nurse examines the child at
the scene to determine whether emergency health care is needed. If not, the
child is scheduled for a doctor visit within 48 hours. Follow-up exams are
set for 30 days, six months, a year and 18 months later.

Under a medical protocol established by the program, doctors check for
respiratory illnesses, normal childhood development and other traces of
potential chemical contamination or abuse.

"Most of it is the kind of thing we would do anyway in terms of a health
assessment on a child that was coming to us," said Dr. Gerald Greene,
chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Arrowhead Regional Medical
Center in Colton.

While many of the children show signs of neglect, doctors have yet to
compile data on how many suffer from chemical-related illnesses.

Since being assigned to the Riverside County program in late July, social
worker Todd Bellanca has processed 40 children from meth labs. Bellanca,
who is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, researches the criminal,
financial and social backgrounds of the children's families within hours of
arriving at a lab scene.

"It assists me in making my decision about what happens to the children
from that point forward," Bellanca said.

Between 80 percent and 90 percent of the children are placed with
relatives. Most of the others are sent to shelters.

A deputy district attorney assigned to the program works with social
workers and police investigators to ensure that adults who make
methamphetamine around children are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

For the past several years, prosecutors in both counties have used
child-endangerment and child-abuse statutes to lengthen prison sentences
for adults convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine around children.

"People often talk of drugs as a victimless crime," said Vince Fabrizio,
the Riverside County prosecutor assigned to the DEC program. "Well, these
children are the victims of drugs.

"What chance do these kids have when they're being raised in a home where
the parents are manufacturing methamphetamine?"

Though participants say they believe the effort is valuable, they're not
sure it will continue.

The Criminal Justice Planning grants are scheduled to fund the programs
through September. After that, local jurisdictions could be left to pick up
the tab or allow the programs to disappear.

In San Bernardino County, Children's Network, a public agency charged with
finding gaps in county services and filling the needs, is prepared to come
to the rescue.

Months before local officials learned of the available state funds, a team
of experts from Children's Network already started on a plan to deal with
kids found at labs.

"We would have figured out a way to do it without the grant funds," said
Kent Paxton, executive director of Children's Network. "We're prepared to
take it back to our policy council and, if need be, we'll look in-house for
in-kind donations to continue the process."