CHILDREN IN METH-MAKING HOMES: SOCIAL WORKERS GET TRAINING

Social Service workers in Harnett County received training yesterday
on dealing with families involved in illegal methamphetamine
manufacture.

The session followed Monday's seminar in Johnston County. Both
sessions were funded by money awarded to just four counties in the
state to fight the rise of meth labs.

The number of labs busted in North Carolina more than doubled to 177
last year. SBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Van Shaw said
yesterday 68 have already been discovered in the state this year,
which will see the numbers doubling once again this year if the trend
continues. A lab was dismantled in Harnett County last week, one of
many in the area over the last two years.

Meth operations are commonly set up in homes and social workers are
often needed to take responsibility for the children of those arrested
when labs are raided.

SBI Agents Shaw and Duane Deaver spent the day teaching DSS employees
all about meth - how it's made, the dangers it poses and signs to look
for that a residence may be home to a meth lab.

Mr. Shaw explained that meth is manufactured using readily available
chemicals, such as ephedrine and iodine, and can be made in just a few
hours. "The reason this is so popular is the accessibility of the
chemicals and it's easy to make," Mr. Shaw said. "It's not a hard process."

Mr. Shaw described two methods of making meth. Both produce hydrogen
chloride gas, but the method more popular in eastern North Carolina
also gives off anhydrous ammonia, he said. These gases overcame two
Erwin Police officers investigating a lab there in 2002.

Although these training seminars are currently focused on counties
where labs are found more regularly, Mr. Deaver said it's a statewide
problem. "People are a little bit more educated in this area about
finding them," he said. "They're in every county."

Some of the household items often seen in meth labs are mason jars,
coffee grinders and the red phosphorus strips from matchboxes,
according to Mr. Shaw. While all these items can be found in many
innocent households, he tipped off social workers about combinations
of items that are unusual.

Multiple Agencies

Around 125 people attended the training, including social workers in
both adult and child services, health department representatives,
emergency medical staff and mental health workers.

County Social Services Director Pat Cameron said he hopes to establish
protocols for his employees to deal with meth situations, "what we
should be looking for, and if we have an incident, who do we call," he
said. The social workers uniformly described the session as
informative and it appears to have given them plenty of things to look
for.

"We'll be paying more attention to our surroundings when we go into a
home," said Cathy Keever, a case manager. For Sherri Semersky, a
social services investigator, the training seemed to be a sobering
experience.

"What scares me about it is that you might be the first person going
in," she said. Joan Curry is a social worker for Johnston County and
lives in Benson. She had to remove some children from a home in
December after a meth lab had been found there.

"I knew I was going into one, but I didn't know what the hazards
were," she said. "It's very difficult for children when we have to
remove them from their environment." Mrs. Curry echoed Mr. Cameron's
hope that protocols will be established for those situations.

Her experience may not be common yet, but looks likely to become so as
more and more labs are discovered locally. Sheriff Larry Rollins, who
also spoke to the group, said he has information on "four or five"
meth labs operating in Harnett.

"There's probably 25 we don't know about. It's that big of a problem,"
he said. Regularly visiting families across the county puts social
workers on the front lines of the battle against meth. "Please be
careful," then sheriff said.

"I've been around this stuff for 30 years. The most pitiful part is
seeing children in these homes where this stuff is being made. Please
contact us - we want to be on the front end of this."