SAVING THE KIDS

What does your family do on Saturday mornings? Chores? Grocery shopping?
Sleep in? A few families may spend the morning in a team shopping effort
with the children searching out such items as iodine, hydrogen peroxide,
distilled water, coffee filters, Draino and camp-stove fuel. Later, the
parents will use these items, and others, to make up a batch of
methamphetamine.

The children exposed to the chemicals in these labs may eventually suffer
from breathing problems, seizures and learning disabilities. If their
parents are caught processing 'meth,' the children will automatically be
removed from their custody and put into foster care.

That's because in 2002 a state law was enacted that defined exposing a
child to methamphetamine as severe child abuse and became one of the legal
reasons for termination of parental rights.

Child Protective Services Case Manager Betsy Dunn works for the state Dept.
of Children's Services, and she's seen firsthand that those parents who
become addicted to meth stop caring about, and for, their children.

"If you find a group of kids in a meth home who are all under the age of
seven, the seven-year-old is going to be the one taking care of everybody.
The mother has stopped worrying about feeding or clothing her children,"
she said.

Dunn began working for Children's Services in 1989. Until four years ago
the term 'methamphetamine' or 'meth' was not in her vocabulary.

Then in 1999 something new caught the department's attention.

"We (at Children's Services) woke up one day and methamphetamine was all
around us. There was no policy in place on how to handle it. It's scary to
look back now at the stuff we did when we didn't realize how hazardous it
was to all of us. We didn't realize the severity of the situation because
we were dealing with something completely different," she said.

Today case workers are not even permitted to go inside a meth lab or home
where children have been found. Only specially trained and outfitted law
enforcement officers can enter so-called 'meth labs.' They bring the
children out to the case workers.

"We don't enter meth homes because we've learned the atmosphere there can
be toxic and we know now that if those fumes ignite, there can be an explosion.

"It's a scary thing," she said. "We're mandated by law to investigate
reports of labs in homes where youngsters are. But we're child-care
workers, not drug enforcement officers. When you visit a meth home, you
don't know what you're going to find. The people who use meth can suddenly
become paranoid and very violent.

"They're unpredictable. You have no idea what the parents might do. I've
seen some of the best parents I've known suddenly turn on their children.
They care about nothing except the drug. Eventually they're willing to give
up everything -- home, children, spouse."

In 2002 there were 80 children placed in foster care in Putnam, DeKalb,
Cumberland and White Counties because of their parents' use or make meth.

"In 2003 there have been over 100 cases -- it's not decreasing," Dunn said.

"And we probably only know about half of what's going on.'

When children and infants are removed from 'meth labs,' they're not allowed
to take anything with them -- no toys, blankies or baby bottles. Everything
they're used to has been contaminated by the drug.

"They come away with only the clothes on their backs. If they're in need of
medical treatment, they're taken to the hospital emergency room to be
cleaned up."

Even letting the children wear their own clothes to the ER or to a foster
home presents some hazards for the case workers. The clothing can
contaminate a car's upholstery and possibly become harmful to the next
person riding in it.

"Eventually the children will have to be decontaminated on site. We'll need
to have a portable shower so we can clean them off before we take them
anywhere," Dunn said.

The children who have lived in or near labs often test positive to exposure
to meth.

"But this is totally different from being addicted to methamphetamine,"
Dunn said. "Meth kids are no different from others and no foster family
members are going to become sick from having a child in their home who was
exposed to meth," she said.

Is there a cure for this growing problem?

"I personally have never met anyone who has been cured of meth addiction,"
Dunn said. "I have heard of some programs that seem to have some success,
and that's a hopeful sign."

Dunn thinks the only way Middle Tennessee is going to get rid of
methamphetamine will be through a massive community effort.

"We have a good beginning with the meth ordinances in Cookeville, Algood,
Baxter and Monterey that allow the retailers to help get a handle on this,"
she said.

"And we have the meth hot-line where people can anonymously report
suspected meth dealers and users. We had a very successful meth conference,
and a newspaper that is putting the word out, and an educational program
that is warning our children about the meth presence and arming our
children with knowledge about the affects of this drug," she said.

"But even with all of that, the impact this is having on society is
devastating and children are the innocent victims. Meth destroys everyone
it comes in contact with," Dunn said.

"We may not be able to save the adults who have become addicted, but we may
be able to save the children."

* If you would like to find out how to become a foster parent call (931)
646-3000 or toll free 1-888 335-9486

* To report a suspected meth producer or user call the meth hotline at
525-6384.

* If you'd like to find out more about the Putnam County Anti-Drug &
Violence Coalition that is fighting the meth presence here call (931) 646-4045.