CPS TO REUNITE MOM, KIDS BY YEAR'S END

Agency Separated Them Over Use Of Marijuana

A Houston woman who temporarily lost custody of her two young children
after puffing marijuana to ease her labor pains likely will be reunited
with her youngsters by the end of the year, a child welfare agency
spokeswoman said Monday.

Children's Protective Services spokeswoman Judy Hay said that an
investigation of the children's home circumstances showed earlier agency
concerns were unfounded.

The official action in late September launched a controversy in which the
parents claimed they were targeted because they are poor. Their cause was
adopted by a local drug-law reform group that charged the custody action
was indefensible because marijuana poses little danger to fetuses.

Angela Jenkins, 24, and her common-law husband, Aaron Asher, 23, lost
custody of their children, newborn Sylvan and 15- month-old Bishop, after
mother and infant tested positive for marijuana exposure.

The positive test results triggered a preliminary CPS investigation.

"At that point in time, we found this couple was being kicked out of the
house by her father. It was uncertain where they would live," Hay said.
Additionally, she said, caseworkers were uncertain whether the mother was
an occasional, recreational drug user or a victim of "full- blown drug
addiction."

"The third factor was that this child was born with a lot of medical
needs," Hay said. "He was born hydrocephalic (a condition marked by fluid
in the cranium). Under those circumstances, what we did was perfectly legal."

The infant was placed with a foster family, Bishop with Asher's mother.

Since the September removal, CPS determined that Asher, an assistant
flooring installer, was gainfully employed, that the couple had secured
adequate lodging and that the mother was not a consistent drug user.

"I can't promise that the children will be back by Christmas," Hay said.
"But they should be back by the end of the year. We understand about
bonding. We want this family to get back together."

Hay said the children's return will be contingent on Jenkins' successfully
completing counseling and a 10-week parenting skills program. The home
situation will again be reviewed next year.

Conroe lawyer Phil Swisher, who represents Jenkins, said he will seek
immediate return of the children in a Thursday hearing in 315th State
District Court.

"In testimony they gave at a (previous) hearing about the father, they said
he had done nothing wrong," Swisher said of CPS officials. "I find it
curious that they still will not return the children to him. He had a drug
assessment by their expert, who determined he needed no treatment. I find
it incredible that the state can take your children when you've done
nothing wrong."

"I think they investigated a little too late," Asher said upon being told
of the CPS decision.

He said neither he nor Jenkins habitually used marijuana.

"We weren't avid users," he said, noting Jenkins used it to ease chronic
pains that proved to be the beginning of contractions.

C. Alan Robison, executive director of Texas Drug Policy Forum, which
advocates the decriminalization of marijuana, testified at a previous
hearing that the drug poses little risk to the unborn's health. Robison is
a former head of the pharmacology department at the University of Texas
Health Science Center, where he conducted extensive tests on the toxicity
of marijuana.

Asher suggested the staff at Memorial City Hospital tested his wife for
drug exposure, thereby setting into motion the events that ended in loss of
custody, because the couple appeared unkempt and lacked insurance.

"Me and Angela showed up at 3 o'clock (in the morning)," he said. "My hair
goes below my shoulder, and I'm sure it was wild. I had just awakened. I
had driven 70 mph."

Asher said he attempted to explain that he had applied four times for
Medicaid but that the application had been delayed.

"We were just little people," Asher said.

Attorney Swisher concurred that the couple's economic status affected the
way they were treated.

"I think one of the indications is that the hospital seized the child
(Sylvan) at the request of CPS without any type of authorization from the
court. I don't think they would have dared seize the child of a River Oaks
mom. I think that would be unthinkable."

Beth Sartori, a spokeswoman for Memorial City Hospital, said Jenkins was
screened for drug use because she had received no prenatal care.

"I wouldn't say that they (CPS officials) had no cause for concern,"
Jenkins said. "They just had no justification for removing the children
from our home."

She expressed puzzlement about CPS procedures.

"They never came to our house," she said, "until they came to take Bishop
away."