FIRED OFFICIAL: DRUGS DITCHED TO HELP TEEN

Before she was fired, the Clarke County child welfare director twice
instructed workers to flush marijuana down a toilet to spare a teenager from
criminal charges.

Gwen O'Looney, who was the Family and Children Services county director in
Athens since 1998, said Monday she did not formally report the two incidents
involving the 15-year-old girl to juvenile court, as required by state law.

The state child protection agency, which investigated the incidents, has
referred the matter to Athens-Clarke County District Attorney Ken Mauldin.
He could not be reached for comment Monday.

O'Looney said she did not formally report the teenager's possession of drugs
because she believed the situation could be better handled within her
agency, rather than the juvenile justice system.

"I believe our job is to focus on the needs of the child," O'Looney said
Monday. She did not want the child to have a criminal record. "[The
children] get a reputation for being a bad kid, and they live up to it," she
said.

Investigations vs. aid

O'Looney said she was fired May 18. The agency has declined to say why she
was dismissed, but O'Looney believes the marijuana incidents played a role.

O'Looney also contends that her disagreements over what she says is a recent
emphasis by the state agency on investigating families, instead of helping
them, contributed to her firing.

O'Looney, who was mayor of Athens-Clarke County from 1990 to 1998,
acknowledged she had befriended the foster teen before the drug incidents,
taking her shopping and to cultural events. But she insisted she was not
showing the girl special treatment by disposing of the drugs and not
reporting her to law enforcement authorities.

An internal state investigation concluded O'Looney inappropriately handled
the matter and that she may have violated state law. The investigation, by
Kenneth Bramlett, director of the state Department of Human Resources Office
of Investigative Services, noted a state law that says the agency must
report knowledge of a child involved with drugs to juvenile court.

O'Looney, 56, said she did not know about the law. She said she had informal
conversations about the matter with a juvenile justice representative,
police and a DFCS superior --- all of whom, she said, agreed the drugs
should just be thrown away. She said they also agreed the child should not
be handed over to the police.

O'Looney declined to identify the officials she contacted.

Unreported incidents

State records show the first incident occurred Oct. 30 last year, when the
teenager's foster mother discovered the girl had about $200 worth of
marijuana, which she was selling to raise money to buy a car.

The drugs were taken to the Clarke County DFCS office, where O'Looney
instructed staff to flush the marijuana down a toilet, the investigative
report said.

The second incident occurred Feb. 24 of this year, when seven small bags of
marijuana were found in the girl's clothing drawers, the report said.
Neither incident was reported.

A caseworker objected to the way O'Looney handled the second incident, and
told the director that the drugs should not be flushed and the girl should
be punished, the report said.

O'Looney said she moved the girl to another foster home and provided her
counseling. She said she has done the same when other foster children have
gotten in trouble.

"Everyone knows that I try to work with all these children to avoid
prosecuting them or turning them over to the police," she said.

Robin Shearer, an associate juvenile court judge in Clarke County, said
reporting to authorities a child possessing illegal drugs can benefit the
child. "The point of the juvenile court is to try and treat, rehabilitate
and supervise," she said.

If convicted of possession of marijuana, a teenager could be sentenced to
probation at home with counseling, sent to a 90-day residential treatment
facility or committed to juvenile detention, Shearer said.

Tom Morton, president of the Child Welfare Institute, a Duluth-based
nonprofit that advises child protection agencies, said O'Looney and her
staff should have reported the girl. "They not only didn't, they destroyed
evidence that might have been used in an investigation," he said.

O'Looney said if presented with the same circumstances, she would think
twice. But, she said, "My first instinct is to protect the child. I got into
this agency to help people. I want to save them, not jail them."

She added, "I still think I did the right thing."