Series: Part 1C

Impact On Family

CHILDREN FORSAKEN FOR A FIX

Scourge Grows And Rescues Rise

Taylor Kratzer and Kendall Powers thought their parents were acting crazy.

But when a judge placed the girls, ages 7 and 4, with relatives in 2000
because of their mother's arrest, they learned the reason for their
parents' behavior.

Stephanie and Allan Powers were drug addicts - hooked on meth.

"It's like something that takes them over, like the devil in a human body,
because they didn't get along," recalled Taylor, who turned 12 this month.
"They were arguing all the time."

Taylor and Kendall are among methamphetamine's innocent victims - an untold
number of children in Kentucky and Indiana affected by addicted parents,
according to social workers, judges and experts.

Some are neglected, while others are exposed to toxic chemicals used to
make the drug. Still others begin using meth themselves.

The number of children removed from Kentucky homes grew by nearly 770 over
the past four years, which officials at the Cabinet for Health and Family
Services attribute largely to meth.

Although there are no firm numbers available for all children removed from
parents because of meth addiction, state police reported finding 66 living
at or around meth labs this year. Far more were removed from homes because
of abuse or neglect stemming from meth-addicted parents, officials said.
"It's a scourge like nothing I've ever seen," said Mary Ellen Nold, who
runs Kentucky's services for children removed from homes because of abuse
or neglect. "It's just like wildfire growing."

Across Indiana, 196 children were removed from homes where Indiana State
Police dismantled meth labs last year, according to the Indiana Family and
Social Services Administration.

All but seven of 54 children taken from houses where meth was being made in
Greene County last year tested positive for the drug either on their
clothes or skin or in their bloodstream, said Vigo County Sheriff John
Marvel, a member of the task force formed by the Indiana General Assembly.

And in Knox County, Ind., the number of petitions to remove children from
homes because of meth was expected to rise to 84 this year, from 20 in
1999, officials said.

Foster homes in Knox have filled beyond capacity as a result, said Larry
Marchino, director of the Knox County Office of Family and Children.

"We find ourselves placing in other agency foster homes," he said.
"Sometimes in other counties."

Shielding Children

Time In Jail Helps Curb Addiction, Heal Wounds

Stephanie Powers said her parents began to suspect her drug use and alerted
social workers. In the fall of 1999, the Powerses lost their children for
the first time in part because social workers found a filthy house and a
knife left out in the open by a house guest, she said.

The children were placed with relatives.

"I was geeked out, I didn't deserve them," Stephanie Powers said.

To get the children back, the Masonville, Ky., couple hatched a plan.

"We sat right in the living room and decided we'd go to Louisville, load up
on a carful of ingredients, then come back and make the biggest batch of
meth we've ever made. Then we'd sell it to get the money to hire the best
attorney we could find, and then we'd get our kids back," Allan Powers said.

They never made the trek, although they kept using meth, both said. "It
would've never worked anyway," Stephanie Powers said.

"We would have done all the meth we made."

The children were returned to her mother in January 2000, but the family
didn't stay together long. Two months earlier, Allan Powers had been sent
to jail after being convicted of third-degree burglary, third-degree arson,
possession of meth and other charges.

Powers, who now owns a construction business and runs beaver traps for
farmers, said that during the five years he was hooked on meth he had
little time for his children.

"I was a little bit abusive, but I was never abusive to the kids," Allan
Powers said. "But their mother and I had some good knock out, some good
drag-outs."

Kendall, who is now 8 and a third-grader, said she had no idea her parents
were using drugs.

"Taylor used to always think that something was up when Mom would just up
and leave," Kendall said. "I was like 2 or something, and they were using
dope and they would always go in there (to a neighbor's home) and when
Taylor would wake up she would just come in here and tell me where Mom went."

The children lived with their mother until May 2000, when Stephanie Powers
was arrested on meth charges.

With both parents in jail the girls were again removed. They began to
understand their parents were drug addicts.

"'Your mom got arrested again,'" Kendall said she recalled her grandmother
telling her.

Stephanie Powers' parents took temporary custody of Kendall, and Taylor
went to live with her biological father.

It would be summer 2002 - after jail and treatment for Stephanie Powers and
prison and six months in a Louisville rehabilitation program for Allan
Powers - before the four would live together again as a family.

Allan Powers said his life was saved by the six months he spent in
Louisville, at the Volunteers of America Halfway Back recovery program
designed for felons with drug problems.

Stephanie Powers said she was in the Daviess County Jail for two months and
then at a 30-day treatment center in Henderson.

"I began to realize I had a problem," she said in a letter about her
recovery she sent to family members. "Seeing my little daughters through a
glass window in jail and not being able to hold them was terrible. The
emptiness, guilt, shame and helplessness were unbearable."

Handling Neglect

Children Suffer When Drug Grips Parents

In Indiana, parents who lost their children include Kenneth and Monica
Birkes, whose trailer home near Leavenworth, Ind., in Crawford County was
destroyed when their meth lab caught fire Feb.6, 2001.

They escaped with their three children, all younger than 10. Kenneth Birkes
was arrested two days later, and the children were placed in foster care.
Their mother was arrested two weeks later.

Kenneth Birkes said he knows he neglected his children during the frequent
periods his wife left for weeks or months at a time.

"I made sure they ate and they had food and stuff," he told a reporter.
"But I wasn't a dad to them. I didn't interact with them as a father would."

"Dad was supposed to be taking care of us but was working on cars, and Mom
was away," said their oldest son, Robert, now 12.

It was "pretty horrible," Robert said. "I asked him like seven times every
day to actually try and make us something to eat. He'd only actually do
that two times, lunch and breakfast."

Samantha, age 7, said, "I wouldn't even go near Dad because like, um, he
was just mean."

Nick, 10, said that applied to both parents. "If we were getting whipped by
Mom or Dad, they would actually hit as hard as they could," he said.

Robert said he once saw his mother, Monica Birkes, make meth.

"I was like, 'What are you doing?' and she said, 'Making something.' I knew
it was wrong. I just didn't want to say anything because they wouldn't
listen to me anyway," he said.

Samantha recalled sad Christmases when her parents were on meth.

"I didn't really care about getting new presents," she said. "I just wanted
my mom and dad to be nice. That's all I wanted for Christmas."

The Birkeses regained custody of their children last year after Kenneth
spent 18 months in jail for dealing a controlled substance, and Monica
served a 14-month term for making meth.

Both got clean while they were incarcerated.

Stephanie Powers, now in recovery and a stay-at-home mom, said she is
horrified how she exposed her children to risks - her drug use, driving
while high and neglect.

Powers said recovery is easier now than it was when she first quit,
especially with the support she and her husband receive from other
recovering addicts.

"It gets easier every day," she said. "In the beginning, it's the craving
and the adjustment to a whole new way of life that is so hard. But
recovering addicts are the best people to turn to for help."

Taylor said she is glad her parents are sober.

"I kept worrying at first that they might do it again," she said. "But I
don't think they will. They've come too far to go back."

{Sidebar}

ABOUT METH Is methamphetamine the same as an amphetamine?

Amphetamine, dextroamphetamine, methamphetamine and their various salts are
collectively referred to as amphetamines. Their chemical properties and
actions are so similar that even experienced users have difficulty knowing
which drug they have taken. Methamphetamine is the most commonly abused.
What else is methamphetamine called?

Meth, crank, poor man's cocaine, crystal meth, ice, glass, speed.

What does meth look like?

Meth typically is a white powder that easily dissolves in water. Another
form of meth, in clear, chunky crystals, is called crystal meth, or ice.
Meth also comes in small, brightly colored tablets. The pills are often
called by their Thai name, yaba.

How is meth used?

It can be injected, snorted, smoked and swallowed.

Who uses meth?

During 2000, 4percent of the U.S. population reported using meth at least
once. Abuse is concentrated in the West, Southwest and Midwest.

Where does meth come from?

Underground labs in the United States and Mexico are the primary sources.

They often get the precursor chemical pseudoephedrine from legitimate
sources. It is smuggled from Canada, and to a lesser extent from Mexico.
Meth tablets most often are mailed or couriered to the United States from
Southeast Asia.

How much does it cost?

Prices vary by region. At the distribution level, prices range from $3,500
a pound in parts of California and Texas to $21,000 a pound in southeastern
and northeastern regions of the country. Retail prices range from $400 to
$3,000 an ounce.

What are some consequences of meth abuse?

They include addiction, psychotic behavior and brain damage. Withdrawal
symptoms include depression, anxiety, fatigue, paranoia, aggression and
intense cravings.

Chronic use can cause violent behavior, anxiety, confusion, insomnia,
auditory hallucinations, mood disturbances, delusions and paranoia.

Damage to the brain caused by meth abuse is similar to Alzheimer's disease,
stroke and epilepsy.

Source: U.S. Drug

Enforcement

Administration