Pubdate: Mon, 24 Jan 2000
Source: Press-Enterprise (CA)
Copyright:  2000 The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact:  3512 Fourteenth Street Riverside, CA 92501
Website: http://www.inlandempireonline.com/
Author: Aldrin Brown

INLAND COUNTIES COPE WITH KIDS FOUND IN LABS

Medical And Social Workers Examine Children To Assess The Effects Of Living 
With Meth And Its Addicts.

The fair-haired 4-year-old girl clung to her mother's neck with both arms, 
oblivious to the strangers circling around her that November afternoon.

Earlier in the day, while she played and colored at a High Desert 
preschool, sheriff's narcotics agents had discovered a methamphetamine lab 
in her father's home.

Officers found toxic chemicals in the garage just feet from a toddler-sized 
battery-operated Barbie jeep. Plastic baggies containing methamphetamine 
and 4-inch-long straws were strewn about the house. One sat atop a neatly 
printed letter to Santa Claus.

Having spent the weekend at her father's Apple Valley home, the little girl 
- -- who lives primarily with her mother -- will be examined several times 
during the next 18 months to ensure that she has suffered no ill effects 
from the poisons and carcinogens common in meth labs.

A specially trained public health nurse, a county physician and a social 
worker will ensure that she is properly documented and monitored to keep 
her away from the dangerous conditions of a meth lab in the future.

She was the 20th child served by San Bernardino County's Drug Endangered 
Children (DEC) program in the past half-year. Like the DEC program in 
Riverside County, San Bernardino's fledgling system aims to protect 
children found at drug labs by coordinating medical and social aid.

In California in 1998, more than 750 children were found living in homes 
where methamphetamine was being manufactured. The Inland Empire, during a 
recent 18-month period, accounted for nearly 500 children found living in 
meth labs. And police and social officials estimate that thousands more 
went undiscovered.

Experts fear that the combination of chemical poisons, neglect and poor 
social conditions creates maladjusted children who pose a drain on school 
resources, health services and eventually the criminal justice system.

In the past, team members say, children found in labs were too often 
dropped off with relatives. Some of those relatives were in the drug trade 
themselves. Others were powerless to prevent the children from drifting 
back to the labs, where they could suffer lasting physical harm or be lured 
into the trade themselves.

"The main advantage is that we know that we're getting the children help 
where we weren't getting them any help before," said Detective Kevin Burke, 
coordinator of the Drug Endangered Children program for the San Bernardino 
County Sheriff's Department.

"Meth has been around long enough where we're seeing second-generation 
cooks. If we can break the cycle, maybe we can get them out of that drug 
environment."

Authorities say it is all too common to find children living in 
methamphetamine labs in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. The two 
counties are among seven in California to be awarded $350,000 grants from 
the Governor's Office of Criminal Justice Planning to address that problem.

The DEC program was launched in March 1996, four months after three 
Riverside children -- ages 1, 2 and 3 -- died in the explosion of a 
methamphetamine lab operated by their mother, Kathy James.

James never tried to rescue her children from the burning trailer. "The 
mother was apparently high on methamphetamine and ran off, leaving the 
children to perish," said Fran Clader, spokeswoman for the Office of 
Criminal Justice Planning.

Ultimately, the goal is to protect children from all of the problems 
associated with drug environments, from chemical poisoning and explosions 
to abuse and neglect.

"People who are cooking meth usually aren't in the best condition to 
provide good living situations for their children," Clader said.

The Inland Empire programs began operating in July after months of 
preparation and meetings involving representatives from social, medical, 
police and criminal-justice agencies.

 From April 1998 through June 1999, San Bernardino County Sheriff's 
deputies responded to 153 methamphetamine labs where children were present.

Nearly 290 children were found in the labs. Most received minimal or no 
medical examinations before being turned over to relatives whose 
backgrounds had not been scrutinzed. In Riverside County, more than 180 
children were found in labs last year.

Often the children are found living in poor conditions. Homes that house 
labs often are dirty, lacking food and sometimes water, gas and electricity.

Growing up in a toxic atmosphere that some police officers would enter only 
while wearing respirators, the children typically lack proper 
immunizations, medical care and dental care.

"I do have one infant that was picked up, and she had to be hospitalized a 
few weeks later for breathing problems," recalled Sue Legg, a social worker 
from San Bernardino County's Department of Children's Services. "We don't 
know whether that was because of a history of asthma in the family, or her 
exposure to the lab, or a combination of both."

During a typical DEC response, a public-health nurse examines the child at 
the scene to determine whether emergency health care is needed. If not, the 
child is scheduled for a doctor visit within 48 hours. Follow-up exams are 
set for 30 days, six months, a year and 18 months later.

Under a medical protocol established by the program, doctors check for 
respiratory illnesses, normal childhood development and other traces of 
potential chemical contamination or abuse.

"Most of it is the kind of thing we would do anyway in terms of a health 
assessment on a child that was coming to us," said Dr. Gerald Greene, 
chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Arrowhead Regional Medical 
Center in Colton.

While many of the children show signs of neglect, doctors have yet to 
compile data on how many suffer from chemical-related illnesses.

Since being assigned to the Riverside County program in late July, social 
worker Todd Bellanca has processed 40 children from meth labs. Bellanca, 
who is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, researches the criminal, 
financial and social backgrounds of the children's families within hours of 
arriving at a lab scene.

"It assists me in making my decision about what happens to the children 
from that point forward," Bellanca said.

Between 80 percent and 90 percent of the children are placed with 
relatives. Most of the others are sent to shelters.

A deputy district attorney assigned to the program works with social 
workers and police investigators to ensure that adults who make 
methamphetamine around children are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

For the past several years, prosecutors in both counties have used 
child-endangerment and child-abuse statutes to lengthen prison sentences 
for adults convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine around children.

"People often talk of drugs as a victimless crime," said Vince Fabrizio, 
the Riverside County prosecutor assigned to the DEC program. "Well, these 
children are the victims of drugs.

"What chance do these kids have when they're being raised in a home where 
the parents are manufacturing methamphetamine?"

Though participants say they believe the effort is valuable, they're not 
sure it will continue.

The Criminal Justice Planning grants are scheduled to fund the programs 
through September. After that, local jurisdictions could be left to pick up 
the tab or allow the programs to disappear.

In San Bernardino County, Children's Network, a public agency charged with 
finding gaps in county services and filling the needs, is prepared to come 
to the rescue.

Months before local officials learned of the available state funds, a team 
of experts from Children's Network already started on a plan to deal with 
kids found at labs.

"We would have figured out a way to do it without the grant funds," said 
Kent Paxton, executive director of Children's Network. "We're prepared to 
take it back to our policy council and, if need be, we'll look in-house for 
in-kind donations to continue the process."
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