A SOURCE FOR HELP

Regarding "Woman Tried To Sell Baby, Police Charge" (Metro, May 11):

The story of Heather Grace Betz, the pregnant woman with a cocaine
addiction who was arrested for trying to sell her unborn baby, is a
heartbreaking example of the chronic, debilitating disease of
substance abuse.

Sadly, the number of pregnant women exposed to illegal substances, as
well as alcohol, has dramatically increased over the past few years.
The impact this can have upon birth outcomes, women's health and
families is a growing concern to many of us in our community.

Many caring agencies and individuals within Hillsborough County are
working together in The Zero Exposure Partnership, a new initiative of
the Healthy Start Coalition, to reduce the rising number of births of
substance-exposed infants. Our focus is identification, intervention
and treatment.

It is the hope of the Zero Exposure Project that by 2007, Hillsborough
County will be a community where every child is born substance-free
and lives in a family that promotes healthy growth and
development.

LISA COLEN and MARY LYNN ULREY, Tampa

Colen is program director of the Zero Exposure Project. Ulrey, a
member of the project, is executive director of Tampa-Hillsborough
County Drug Abuse Comprehensive Coordinating Office Inc.