VIOLENCE, DRUGS PUT KIDS AT RISK, CAS SAYS

SMITHS FALLS -- The head of Lanark County's Children's Aid Society
painted a troubling portrait of life for some children in the county
in a presentation to councillors here this week.

Suzanne Geoffrion, the society's executive director, told council in
a deputation Monday that a majority of the 148 children now in the
agency's care are under age 12.

"We have a pretty definite trend," she said of the increasing number
of younger children the agency has been forced to remove from homes.

"We're encountering young families with lots of young children in
very high-risk situations," Geoffrion told council in her 10-minute
presentation.

"We're really dealing with the pressures of domestic violence and
addictions," she said.

In response to a question from Mayor Dennis Staples about the impact
of job losses on the risk to children, Geoffrion conceded the
economic picture was "not promising."

She noted "the most critical indicator of child abuse is unemployment."

In an interview with The Recorder and Times on Tuesday, Geoffrion
agreed it's fair to characterize the numbers as disturbing.

"It's very concerning there are a lot of very young children who are
not remaining with their parents. That's very serious and some of
them won't ever be able to go home," said Geoffrion.

The trend towards younger children in crisis has been taking shape
over the past two years, noted Geoffrion, indicative of the number of
young parents who are running into problems with jobs, substance
abuse and mental health issues.

"The numbers just get higher and higher," she said of younger
children. "We're particularly concerned around the 0-6s because those
children obviously are at very high risk."

Where addiction is the reason for children coming into the agency's
care, Geoffrion said cocaine is typically the drug being abused - by
both male and female parents.

Geoffrion was careful to note she was speaking county wide.

"(Drug abuse) is not worse in Smiths Falls than anywhere else," she stressed.

Currently there are 40 children up to age six in care or 27 per cent
of all cases. That's up from 24 per cent last year and the agency's
only in its third quarter, she pointed out.

Geoffrion said Smiths Falls accounts for about 40 per cent of all
children in the agency's care - which ranges anywhere from that
figure down to one-third of cases.

If she could do one thing to make the picture brighter, Geoffrion
said she'd want to see more addiction services in Lanark County.

She said the few counsellors that are available do yeoman's work, but
there simply aren't enough of them to cope with demand.

"The addiction is the symptom," explained Geoffrion. "If you can at
least get the addiction taken care of then you can get beyond the
underlying issues.

"But if a parent is addicted, it really does get in the way of their
decision making."

Her appearance Monday at Smiths Falls is part of an effort she's
making since last fall's municipal elections to speak to each
municipality in Lanark County.

"We're talking about the children and families of the community and
that's of interest to everyone," said Geoffrion.

With a budget of $8 million, Lanark Children's Aid is based in Perth
and has 88 employees and cares for children in 71 foster homes and 14
adoption homes in the county.