SAVING CHILDREN FROM METH HOMES

Missouri counties take ideas from Joplin agency's meth policy.

When Doug Westhoff walked into a motel-room-turned-meth-lab several years
ago, among the chemical containers and other paraphernalia used to cook the
drug, he also found baby blankets and a child seat. It was obvious to the
Boone County assistant fire chief that children were present while the drug
was being made.

In Missouri, almost 500 children were affected by methamphetamine labs in
2003, according to the most recent report by the Office of National Drug
Control Policy. About 36 percent of the children were placed in protective
custody. However, according to the Missouri Juvenile Justice Association,
the numbers aren't representative of the actual problem because the state
lacks a uniform system of reporting the number of children affected by meth.

"Everyone is recognizing that this is becoming a huge problem," said Lynn
Cole, circuit manager for the Boone County Children's Division. "And we are
seeing it more and more."

In 2004, more than 11,000 children were placed in foster care in Missouri.
Twenty-nine percent of those children were removed from homes because of
parental drug use.

Although the Missouri Department of Social Services does not differentiate
between meth and other drugs, a significant number of those children are
from homes where meth was made, said Deborah Scott, spokeswoman for the
Missouri Department of Social Services.

According to the Federal Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, the state
must start to terminate parental rights if the child has been in foster care
for 15 of the previous 22 months.

It is possible but unlikely that children who have been removed from meth
labs will be returned to their parents, said Ashley Smethers, spokesperson
for Columbia's Rainbow House.

Two children were brought to the Rainbow House, a children's emergency
center and regional child advocacy center in Columbia, for meth-related
situations so far this year, Smethers said.

In Boone County, an estimated 10 to 15 children have been found at meth lab
sites this year, said Cole. The agency is just starting to differentiate
between meth and other drugs on its tracking forms.

In any instance where a child is present at a meth lab, all of the child's
clothing is supposed to be removed, they are supposed to take a shower and
receive a medical examination before being placed in foster care, Smethers
said.

"It doesn't always happen that way," she said.

Unlike other states, such as Nebraska, Oklahoma and Arizona, Missouri has
yet to establish a statewide interagency protocol for dealing with children
found in meth labs. Although some counties in Missouri have protocols,
agencies in Boone County do not have coordinated policies for instances when
children are found at these sites.

"There may be individual protocols for independent agencies, but there is a
lack of coordinated protocols between agencies," said Julie Cole Agee,
director of the Missouri Juvenile Justice Association, who is working to
develop a procedure that will serve as a model across the state.

The process used by Boone County Children's Division requires cooperation
with law enforcement, medical personnel and the juvenile office, Cole said.

"We always involve law enforcement," she said. "We certainly take
precautions. You never know what you will run into."

Children found in meth labs by the children's division receive medical
attention immediately. If children are believed to be in imminent risk, they
are removed from the home by juvenile division officers and placed with
relatives or in protective custody, she said.

Setting an example

About a year ago, Greg Dagnan, director of the Children's Center of
Southwest Missouri in Joplin, helped develop an interagency protocol after
about 10 children per month were found in meth lab-related incidents.

Since January, the center has seen about 10 children for meth-related
incidents, Dagnan said.

Modeled after a program in Tulsa, Okla., southwest Missouri's protocol
requires law enforcement officials seizing a meth lab to immediately call
the county children's division each time a child is found. Once the
children's division is contacted, they bring the child to the Children's
Center, where the child is bathed and examined.

The child receives three showers to reduce the risk of contamination. Since
the child's belongings have been contaminated, the child will receive
entirely new clothing, toys andshoes, he said.

"Decontamination can take a couple of hours," Dagnan said.

The child also receives a medical examination. The child's blood pressure,
pulse and respiration are all tested, and they are evaluated for signs of
abuse, Dagnan said.

Children taken to the center in Joplin usually stay two to three hours
before going to foster care.

"Our primary goal is that when they do go into foster care they are clean
and healthy," Dagnan said.

Protocol Progress

Smethers said she hopes to replicate the success of Joplin's program in
Boone County by bringing representatives from local law enforcement
agencies, fire departments, the juvenile office and the children's division
together during a meeting at Rainbow House on Thursday.

Dagnan also plans to attend the meeting to share information about how to
establish a successful protocol, he said.

"We are going to try to discuss how we can implement it in Boone County,"
Smethers said. "We just want to make sure that there is something set up to
make sure they are being cleaned and treated like they need to be."

Dagnan said the most important aspect is for the departments to "buy into"
the protocol.

"The most important thing is to keep in mind the best interest of the
children," Dagnan said.

Health Concerns

Children who live in and near meth labs face dangers including
contamination, child abuse and neglect, social problems, hazardous living
conditions, as well as short- and long-term health problems, according to
the Missouri Juvenile Justice Association.

During the meth cooking process, toxic chemicals are released into the air,
producing harsh gases that coat the environment and are inhaled by those
occupying the meth lab, said John Martyny, associate professor at the
National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver.

"Just because it is a chemical found in the home, doesn't mean that it is
not a problem," he said. "The carpeting and everything has so much meth in
it, that they are exposed to it every day. Even when kids crawl on the floor
they end up ingesting the drug."

Martyny said exposure to meth primarily causes chemical burns and
respiratory problems, such as asthma and lung scarring.

Breathing in the chemicals can cause other long-term health problems,
including neurological, liver, kidney, eye and skin damage. Children are
especially susceptible to the health problems because their organs are still
developing and because they metabolize the toxins much faster, Martyny said.

Chemicals are often not stored in their original containers, and instead,
stored in food containers, which can lead to accidental poisoning, Westhoff
said. Toys, clothing and other personal belongings might also be
contaminated.

Because meth users can be high for days followed by a deep sleep that could
last just as long, children are neglected, Dagnan said.

"Every child we have had in from a meth lab has been neglected," he said.
"If you have a parent who has been sleeping for days who is watching the
child?"

The lack of parental supervision leads children into potentially dangerous
situations.

"Take normal household hazards like cleaning chemicals and electric outlets
and multiply that by 10," Dagnan said. "There are a lot of ways in these
houses that children can get hurt."

Meth users often experience extreme paranoia, irritability, chronic
repetitive behavior and psychosis, Dagnan said. Those characteristics might
never go away.

"The problem with that is it makes you a terrible parent," he said.

DECONTAMINATION

PROCESS

The interagency meth protocol in southwest Missouri ensures that children
will be brought to the Children's Center of Southwest Missouri for
decontamination and a medical exam before being placed in a foster home.
This protocol will serve as a template for mid-Missouri agencies working to
establish a protocol.

Children's Center Meth Protocol:

On arrival at the Children's Center:

- - Child will receive three complete showers and hair will be shampooed
thoroughly.

- - Child will be placed in new, clean clothing and shoes. (New means not
removed from the child's home or dwelling.)

- - Child's special belongings will be placed in a bio-degradable bag for
washing. These bags are designed to dissolve upon contact with water in the
washing machine to protect from handling contaminated clothing. Bag and
clothing will be put in a washing machine and washed for three complete
cycles for decontamination.

- - Child's shoes (unless shoes are fairly new) will be placed in a red
bio-hazard bag and will be taken by law enforcement. If shoes are fairly
new, they may be thoroughly washed in washing machine.

- - Blood pressure, pulse, respirations, height and weight will be taken and
recorded.

- - Within 24 hours, blood or urine samples may be given a complete blood
count test, Hepatitis profile, and lead and lithium tests.

- - During the examination, children are also evaluated for signs of abuse and
neglect.

Source: Children's Center of Southwest Missouri Meth Protocol. Greg Dagnan,
director