DCFS SAYS IT HAS NO PLANS TO TAKE CUSTODY OF METH ADDICT'S NEWBORN

A pregnant drug user locked up in the Salt Lake County jail since
Sept. 22 on a special arrangement between the sheriff and a judge was
checked into a residential drug treatment program Monday with her newborn girl.

Tammaria Gehring gave birth Sunday night and was released from the
hospital the next day to the Volunteers of America Utah.

Gehring's family is hopeful she will shake her addiction, but they
worry she'll walk away from the detoxification center and disappear
with her child.

The family wants to know why, after the sheriff and a judge were able
to get Gehring off the street and away from dope, the state is not
taking custody of the child. They say it is yet another frustrating
example of how the Utah Division of Child and Family Services
intervenes only after a child has been endangered.

"They're supposed to be out there helping these children but they
don't went to help them until they're hurt," said Camille Gehring,
Tammaria Gehring's sister-in-law. "She needs treatment, she needs
help, but this baby doesn't need to be dragged into this help."

DCFS spokeswoman Carol Sisco said a caseworker is paying frequent
visits to the 30-year-old woman to make sure she stays the course of
her treatment. DCFS attorneys are also drafting a petition asking the
court to order services, such as drug treatment or counseling.

"It seemed like a good thing that she was willing to work on her
problems. The baby is safe in the program," Sisco said. Even if
Gehring were court ordered to receive drug treatment, she is still
free to walk out of Volunteers of America. The detoxification center
does not have the legal authority to hold her there.

"Our concern right now is the baby is in a safe place and mom is
getting treatment," Sisco said.

Gehring lost custody of her two boys, ages 14 months and 12 years,
after judges decided she was not fit to be a parent. Before she was
jailed, she was living in a motel room and using methamphetamine,
according to her mother and court records.

"DCFS has no control when she leaves [the treatment facility]. They
have no control over the baby," Camille Gehring said. Tammaria
Gehring is awaiting sentencing on a felony charge of possession of a
controlled substance. In late September, she tested positive for
drugs in violation of her pre-sentencing release. Even after 3rd
District Judge Terry Christiansen set Gehring's bail at $100,000, the
Salt Lake County jail turned her away.

Sheriff Aaron Kennard said pregnant women are a legal and financial
liability for the jail.

Because Gehring has not yet been sentenced on her felony charge,
Christiansen could not order residential drug treatment. Concerned
about the safety of Gehring's unborn child, Christiansen asked
Kennard to make an exception. The sheriff agreed. Camille Gehring
said DCFS told her that her niece, Trinity, was born healthy and
shows no signs of drug withdrawal.

Now the baby's fate lies in the hands of her mother, a recovering
meth addict, and DCFS, which says it has no plans to take the baby away.