Pubdate: Sun, 08 May 2005
Source: Mail Tribune, The (Medford, OR)
Copyright: 2005 The Mail Tribune
Contact:  http://www.mailtribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/642
Note: Source rarely prints LTEs received from outside its circulation area
Author: Jonel Aleccia
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

A LIFELINE FOR METH KIDS

As The Tide Of Meth-Damaged Children Rises In Jackson County, Foster 
Parents Like Sharon And Jim Bowling Provide An Island Of Safety

When he showed up on Sharon Bowling's doorstep last fall, the 2-year-old 
boy was eerily quiet.

"He showed no sign of emotion," Bowling recalls. "He didn't speak at all. 
Nothing."

The bouts of silence were broken only by screaming tantrums so severe that 
Bowling could do nothing but hold the toddler tightly until they passed.

Even now, months later, the chubby-cheeked boy born with methamphetamine in 
his blood climbs often into Bowling's lap for a snug hug.

"He likes to be held and swaddled like a baby," says Bowling, a 39-year-old 
Medford foster mother who's had to learn by experience the best ways to 
comfort drug-affected children.

Right now, two of Bowling's four foster children struggle with the 
lingering effects of their parents' drug use.

More often, the number is higher, reflecting the overall statistics in 
Jackson County, where officials estimate 80 percent of the 330 kids in care 
were removed from their parents because of meth.

That's up from just four years ago, when the average number of kids placed 
in care each month was 17 and alcohol was the worrisome substance-abuse 
problem, says Phil Niemeyer, a local supervisor for the state Department of 
Human Services.

Today, the average number of kids placed each month is 37 -- and the 
leading factor is meth.

Last month, in fact, the local agency reached a new rolling milestone: 61 
Jackson County children were placed in foster care in April, the most ever 
in a single month. For 38 of those children, methamphetamine was a factor 
in their placement.

Foster-care providers like Bowling figure they're on the front lines of the 
meth crisis, coping daily with the fallout from adult addiction.

"It's a selfish thing," says Bowling, who has three children of her own. 
"The parents are not here to see what their choices do to their children."

In seven years as a foster parent, both here and in Wyoming, Bowling has 
been called to hospital waiting rooms several times to take custody of 
newborns with drugs thrumming in their veins.

She has held the babies tightly as their tiny bodies arched and flailed in 
the throes of withdrawal. She has rocked them gently, hoping to calm their 
cat-like cries. She has filled syringes with medically prescribed 
methamphetamine and heroin and fed it to infants through bottle nipples.

"I have to give that baby a form of the drug to wean them off," Bowling 
says. "As a mom, it is the worst feeling in the world to give a baby who's 
dependent on me that drug."

Even after the children endure physical withdrawal, symptoms of drug 
addiction linger. At 5, Bowling's foster daughter still has moments when 
her muscles clench, sending the kindergartner into spasms of rigidity.

Bowling's 3-year-old foster son speaks now and his tantrums have lessened, 
but he's still extremely sensitive to stimulation.

"These kids, they just can't deal with the sound and the touch and the 
taste," says Bowling.

Coping with the demands of such children is the subject of frequent 
training for foster parents like Bowling, who are part of Oregon's effort 
to treat medically fragile foster children.

In Portland and other urban areas, specially trained foster providers may 
be registered nurses caring for kids with severe defects or illnesses.

In Southern Oregon, most of the area's 250 foster parents are trained to 
provide at least some level of care for fragile children, says Patt Fisher, 
a foster parent recruitment specialist.

Few local foster children have problems severe enough to require skilled 
nursing, Fisher says. Hundreds of children, however, suffer from the 
plethora of problems produced by meth and other drug abuse.

The physical factors, which can include brain damage and learning 
disabilities, are often compounded by neglect and abuse perpetrated by 
meth-addicted parents.

Many of the children who come to Bowling suffer from malnutrition. Her 
22-month-old foster daughter has nearly doubled in size since she arrived 
eight months ago. The 2-week-old boy who weighed 6 pounds when Bowling took 
him in is now a thin but healthy 8-month-old with two new teeth.

"This is America," says Bowling, who believes malnourished children should 
be regarded as medically fragile. "It's amazing to think these children are 
not given proper nutrition when we have so much."

Caring for ill, injured and neglected children has been Bowling's desire 
since she was a young girl. She and her husband, Jim Bowling, 39, a 
mechanical engineer, agreed early in their 18- year marriage to become 
foster providers.

"This, for us, is a ministry," says Bowling, a soft-figured woman in a 
poppy-colored polo shirt.

The couple, who attend Applegate Christian Fellowship in Ruch, are walking 
recruitment ads for foster care.

"People ask me all the time if the children are mine," Sharon Bowling says. 
"I say, 'They are all mine, temporarily.'"

Being a foster parent to drug-affected children is not just a calling, it's 
a job, of course. Bowling earns about $2,400 a month from the state to take 
care of four foster kids, including the two defined as medically fragile. 
However, that pay has to cover almost all of the children's necessities, 
officials note.

"I make 52 cents an hour for the state base rate," Bowling says.

If Bowling had a wish, it would be that more people of faith would choose 
the challenge of foster care, she says, pulling her once-silent foster son 
into yet another hug.

"If I can help a parent who is down and out in this season of their life, 
that's great," she says, cradling the toddler.

"And, at the same time, I can show the kids that the life they come from, 
it doesn't have to be that way."

Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail Symptoms of meth-affected babies Methamphetamine is a depressant for 
newborns, causing them to be "too good."

They're often sleepy and lethargic, with low muscle tone and floppy arms 
and head.

By two weeks, the babies become more agitated. They arch their backs and 
flail their arms with rigid muscles.

They are hypersensitive to stimulation of light, sound, smell and touch.

Many scream constantly unless held.

They have eating and digestion problems, including painful abdominal cramps.

Many have trouble gaining weight.

Many older babies and children suffer frequent emotional outbursts, 
learning disabilities and other disorders, depending on the severity of the 
addiction.

Foster parents don't have to take on more than one child

When people see Sharon Bowling in the grocery store, they think she's a saint.

It's understandable, considering she has to buy milk accompanied by seven 
children, including three biological offspring and four foster kids, 
ranging in age from 8 months to 11 years.

"They tell me, 'Oh, I could never do that,' " Bowling says.

But local foster care recruiters want people to know they don't have to.

Not everyone who agrees to become a foster parent is required to care for 
many kids, says Penny Esser, a Jackson County recruitment specialist.

"We consider it a success if someone does one child, one time," she says.

Of the 250 certified foster parents in Jackson County, most are relatives 
of the children in care. Only about 100 homes are available for a growing 
caseload of kids in care, which now tops about 330.
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