Pubdate: Sat, 10 Jul 2004 Source: Tennessean, The (TN) Copyright: 2004 The Associated Press Contact: http://www.tennessean.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/447 Author: Bill Poovey, Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) AGENCY LACKS TIME FOR NEW METH-EXPOSED CHILDREN TALLY The Department of Children's Services hit a legislative nerve by deciding employees probably won't have time to update a comprehensive count of Tennessee children exposed to methamphetamine. State Rep. Charles Curtiss, a member of Gov. Phil Bredesen's methamphetamine task force, said legislators must have an updated count of children exposed to the harmful drug in the state. The last one was provided in August 2003. He said the figures are needed to help measure the projected cost of task force recommendations due to the governor by Sept. 1 on how to fight meth's hold in Tennessee. "That is data that I have got to know," said Curtiss, D-Sparta. Curtiss said members of the legislature will use the count to make decisions about costs when the task force recommendations become bills. "Once we get this legislative package based on the task force recommendation . the only way they can put a legitimate price tag on it, they are going to have to have that data from DCS," Curtiss said. Paul Monteballo, the department's director of performance enhancement, said Thursday that child protective case workers would not take time to update the August 2003 report that showed more than 600 meth-exposed children taken from parents in Tennessee during the previous 18 months. "Given our staff workload, I would think that is pretty unlikely," Monteballo said Thursday. Monteballo and department commissioner Viola Miller had said last month when they released a monthly report for April that the department also would release a statewide count on the impact since last August. The 2003 report on the number of affected children showed that meth is more than an isolated, regional problem. Law officers, prosecutors and child protective workers have said this year that the popularity of the addictive stimulant cooked at home with toxic chemicals is growing in Tennessee. Federal Drug Enforcement Administration records show 1,253 meth labs were cleaned up in Tennessee in 2003, the most in any state for the third straight year. "It can make a parent disregard the health and safety of their child," Curtiss said. "I have not seen anything else that does that. My concern is not just the cost but the jeopardy we are placing those children in by leaving them in those homes." Monteballo said Thursday that the department planned to just provide monthly reports in the future. The report on April shows meth-related investigations involved 189 children, with the department having petitioned courts for custody of 77 children. It does not show a count of children removed from the custody of their parents Monteballo said the May report would be released in August, with other monthly reports to follow. He said the department already has a count of 546 cases involving drug-exposed children or infants in May and another 581 for June. Those totals include all abused substances, not just meth. He said the department's computer program "doesn't say the drug is meth." Monteballo said the computer program would eventually be changed to identify specific drugs. Cumberland County Sheriff Butch Burgess said continuing a statewide count of meth cases is essential to recognizing demands on related support programs. The drug is made with commonly available materials such as cold tablets, matchbook striker plates, iodine, hydrogen peroxide, lye and muriatic acid, and cooking it produces poisonous vapors. "Marijuana doesn't contaminate a house. Cocaine doesn't. Meth contaminates the whole house," Burgess said. "I've had a lot of the cooks tell me that cooking it is more addictive than using it." He said exposure to the chemical vapors is devastating for meth users and their children. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake