Pubdate: Thu, 20 Nov 2003
Source: Mountain Times, The (NC)
Copyright: 2003 The Mountain Times.
Contact: P.O. Box 1815, Boone, NC 28607
Website: http://www.mountaintimes.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1699
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Author: Kathleen McFadden

METH TASK FORCE DISCUSSES TREATMENT, PRIVACY ISSUES

Watauga County's methamphetamine response team continues to make progress 
toward a number of goals in the face of the county's multiple challenges 
related to child safety, decontamination and adult offender treatment.

Chad Slagle, treatment worker for the Department of Social Services Child 
Protective Services, told the group that DSS substantiated the 17th Watauga 
County child in a meth situation during the week of November 3. However, 
Slagle also acknowledged the work of local Girl Scouts who have held 
fundraisers to purchase items for children who are found in homes with 
methamphetamine labs. Current protocol calls for all the children's 
belongings to be left behind because of the possibility of contamination, 
and replacing clothes and toys for those children has created financial 
problems for the department. Slagle told the group that his office is 
packed with items for children, including stuffed animals and toys, and 
that the Girl Scouts are currently raising funds to purchase jogging suits 
for the children to wear after they are decontaminated.

Mike Vannoy of the Watauga County Criminal Justice Partnership Program had 
mixed news for the group on the treatment progress of meth offenders. 
"We've had some successes and we've also had some failures," Vannoy said. 
While some offenders who are participating in intensive outpatient programs 
and one who was hospitalized but is now in an aftercare program are "doing 
quite well," Vannoy said, "I have had some who totally refused treatment."

Slagle pointed out that the highest success rate is in cases "where people 
have lost everything - their children, their homes, their jobs and their 
families."

In terms of providing treatment, Vannoy said, "We have to be open-minded 
with each case because every case is different. Every circumstance is 
different. We have to be tolerant of some of the situations that go on. We 
look at relapse as part of treatment."

Boone PD's Tom Redmond explained that the court calendar reflects a lot of 
repeat cases. "Alcoholism is bad," he said, "but I think this is going to 
top alcoholism. Repeat offenders are very, very common." Sherry Nohr of the 
district attorney's office agreed, "If they get out of jail, they're going 
to start cooking again."

"I've seen them - with crack cocaine in years past - give up their kids. 
They don't give a dern. I think this meth is stronger.," Redmond said.

Vannoy added, "They don't know how bad their lives are. The drug makes 
their brain like Swiss cheese." After explaining that some people are so 
badly damaged by the drug they will require medication for life, Vannoy 
said, "It's a difficult population to work on, to say the least." The first 
thing out of a meth addict's mouth, Vannoy said, is "I don't see anything 
wrong with it. It helps me work more; I can stay up longer."

Denise Presnell, social worker for the Watauga County Schools, told the 
group that she is aware of students who are using methamphetamine and 
students who are buying products - such as Red Devil lye - that are used in 
the production of meth. Presnell asked the group for tips on how to 
recognize students who were exposed to meth production at home. Several 
attendees had suggestions: children with unkempt and dirty clothes, red 
eyes from exposure to fumes, older children who are taking care of younger 
ones and the sudden onset of health problems - such as asthma - that the 
child never had before. In short, said DSS Director Jim Atkinson, look for 
the classic signs of neglect." Signs of drug use include agitation, loss of 
perspective about time and a absence of appetite.

Presnell's request for a heads-up to the schools about children found in 
meth environments so school administrators can be alerted to the 
possibility of behavioral changes and so the children can receive 
therapeutic support right away stimulated a discussion of privacy issues. 
The group members agreed that privacy laws prevent DSS from passing along 
such information to the schools except in cases in which DSS has custody of 
the child and has substantiated abuse.

Slagle explained that DSS is passing the reports its workers receive about 
children who might be living in a meth production environment along to the 
Sheriff's Office rather than investigating the cases themselves. Slagle 
pointed out the reasons for this procedure: DSS workers are not certified 
to identify a meth lab, the potential exists for the workers' contamination 
and a visit has the potential to disrupt a Sheriff's Office investigation. 
Consequently, DSS is now only taking cases from law enforcement offices.

"The Sheriff's Office is getting reports from us in truckloads - that's how 
many reports we get," Slagle said.

The discussion then turned - as it has in all the previous meetings - to 
the lack of statewide standards for cleaning up property where meth has 
been produced. Redmond said that he is a member of a group working to 
prepare legislative recommendations for the General Assembly and that he 
hopes that cleanup legislation will be passed in January. In the meantime, 
local law enforcement officers and DSS workers have no way to determine if 
a dwelling is safe for children to reenter. Consequently, children in DSS 
custody are currently not allowed back into any home where meth has been 
produced, even if the parents are back in the house and able to take the 
children.

Another ongoing topic is the development of a pediatric protocol for 
children found in homes where meth is produced and taken to the emergency 
room. Because a standard protocol has yet to be developed, the evaluations 
and tests administered at the hospital may vary from child to child 
depending on the doctor. Slagle has been working with area pediatricians to 
develop a standard, but the group has not reached consensus agreement. 
Slagle said that he would ask three pediatricians to prepare draft 
protocols and then asking emergency room doctors to combine them into one 
ideal protocoal.

The next meeting of the Meth-Lab Response Team for Children and Families is 
December 5 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. in the DSS conference room.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart