MOM ALLOWED TO CONTINUE BABY T VISITS
NEW DRUG TESTS ORDERED BEFORE, AFTER ALL VISITS

Despite a positive test for opiates in her most recent drug test, Tina
Olison will be allowed to continue to have unsupervised visits with
her 3-year-old son, the child known as Baby T.

But Circuit Court Judge Judith Brawka ruled Tuesday that before and
after each weekly visit with the child, who is in the foster care of
Ald. Edward Burke (14th) and Appellate Court Judge Anne Burke, Olison
will have to pass a simplified drug screening exam to be supervised by
the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

While all the details of the new testing have yet to be finalized,
Brawka said "I do believe the safety of the child can be secured" with
the additional screening.

Brawka, who was brought in from Kane County to hear the politically
charged case, added that should Olison fail one of the "quick strip"
tests--which reveal the presence of narcotics almost instantly in a
manner similar to a home pregnancy test--her unsupervised visits with
Baby T would be canceled immediately.

Brawka said Olison would undergo the quick strip tests until the
results of more sophisticated tests on the urine sample that tested
positive for opiates are completed at a Pennsylvania lab. Those
results are expected in about two weeks.

Brawka also ordered Olison, a chronic drug user for nearly two decades
until she became drug free three years ago, to submit to weekly random
drug tests--doubling the number of tests she currently takes.

Brawka's orders in the case come after the disclosure Tuesday that
Olison's last drug test--conducted on May 19--tested positive for opiates.

Olison and her attorneys have contended that the test, conducted at
the Family Guidance Center on West Chicago Avenue, was faulty.

Olison said Tuesday that she believes her specimen may have been
confused with others.

"I think it wasn't a setup," said Olison, as she left the courtroom on
her way to take another drug test. "I think it was a mixup."

Officials at the Family Guidance Center could not be reached for
comment late Tuesday.

Experts say that the results from basic urine tests can be
"notoriously unreliable."

Dr. Robert Kirschner, clinical associate in the departments of
pathology and pediatrics at the University of Chicago and former
deputy chief medical examiner, said ingredients in over-the-counter
cough syrup could be picked up in a urine test.

"So they're not highly specific for a particular type of opiate, and
there may even be some non-opiate drugs that might cross-react,"
Kirschner said.

Adam Negrusz, an assistant professor in forensic science at the
University of Illinois at Chicago, said more sophisticated testing of
a urine sample--using special equipment--can definitely show if a
substance in a sample is an illegal drug.

Olison's positive drug test is the latest swerve in a case that has
often defied prediction but always garnered public attention.

In a case fraught with charges of politics, attorneys for Olison,
along with Cook County Public Guardian Patrick Murphy, whose office
serves as legal counsel for Baby T and his brother, have charged that
DCFS changed its mind about reuniting Olison with Baby T in order to
appease the politically powerful Burkes.

DCFS has denied that it has handled Olison's case differently.

After finding that DCFS had failed to prove Olison was unfit to parent
Baby T, Brawka in March ordered the child returned to Olison within
the following 12 months. Baby T's older brother, Baby B, lives with
Olison's mother and the child is scheduled to be returned to her
custody within the next few months.

The questions surrounding the drug tests prompted attorneys for both
DCFS and the Public Guardian to recommend that Olison's visits with
Baby T be supervised.

Attorney Marina Ammendola, who appeared on behalf of the Burkes, said
the foster parents' "concern is maintaining the safety and well-being
of the child."