CASH-FOR-STERILIZATION ARRIVES HERE

Controversial Agency Offering To Pay $200 To Addicts Who Get Permanent
Birth Control.

Barbara Harris is proud of the controversial agency she founded in
California, which aims to curb the birth of drug-addicted babies by
offering cash to current and former drug users who opt for sterilization or
long-term contraception.

But she's relieved not to have to oversee the new Chicago operations.

Chicagoans have provided the harshest criticism yet of the
cash-for-sterilization program offered by the non-profit CRACK, an acronym
for Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity.

"I'm glad I'm not the one directly overseeing the program here--I mean, we
had a voice mail from someone here who said they hated us and that we were
like Hitler or something," said Harris at a Monday press conference
announcing the official launch of the Chicago program.

Harris said she had no tally of the number of negative--or
positive--responses to the program's move into the Chicago area.

Chicago marks the first expansion of the donor-funded organization that
program volunteers say has received overwhelming support, but still has
drawn criticism from various factions since it began in late 1997.

Last week, Steve Trombley, president and chief executive officer of Planned
Parenthood Chicago Area, said: "Coercing women into sterilization by
exploiting the condition of their addiction is just plain wrong."

The program offers drug addicts $200 cash if they get a tubal ligation,
vasectomy or long-term contraceptive such as Norplant.

Through billboards and fliers, the program promotes a toll-free hot line
for potential clients--and donors--to call. Those claiming to be addicts or
former addicts willing to undergo birth control procedures are asked to
sign a contract and a doctor's release form so the procedures can be
verified before payment is made.

CRACK is based in Anaheim, Calif., and was created by Harris in 1997 after
she adopted four drug-addicted children from the same mother.

When asked whether the $200 offered to drug addicts might simply fuel
addicts' drug habits, Harris is quick to respond.

"That's their choice," Harris said, explaining that at least the addicted
parents are not giving birth to addicted children who "don't have a choice."

"We know we have our critics, but until they come up with a better
solution, we're moving ahead," Harris said.

A 1998 report on National Public Radio about CRACK intrigued Lyle Keller of
Chicago, who is now the self-appointed director of the group's operations
in Chicago.

"CRACK Chicago does not pretend to be an answer to the problem of
addiction; clearly, recovery from addiction is always the ideal goal,"
Keller said at Monday's press conference.

A former social worker, Keller is a Governors State University instructor
who teaches social workers for the Illinois Department of Children and
Family Services. He said his volunteer work for CRACK and work with DCFS
will remain separate, but last April asked the department to rule on
whether his volunteer work was in conflict with his duties as a DCFS
consultant.

While initially ruling that there was no conflict, Keller's dual role is
again under review, according to DCFS Director Jess McDonald.

McDonald said the agency doesn't support CRACK or its sterilization program.

"It doesn't deal with the root cause, and that's addiction," McDonald said.

Governors State University spokesman John Harris said Keller's outside
affiliations are his own business, but "we're not affiliated with that
organization in any way."

So far, 57 women have been paid for permanent birth control through the
California CRACK program.