Pubdate: Thu, 29 Dec 2005
Source: Springfield News-Leader (MO)
Copyright: 2005 The Springfield News-Leader
Contact:  http://www.springfieldnews-leader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1129
Author: Amos Bridges
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

CHARGE FILED AFTER BABY BORN WITH METH TRACES

Mom, 19, facing child endangerment case; new policy targets drug
users.

A Springfield mother faces a charge of child endangerment after she
and her newborn baby tested positive for methamphetamine.

Greene County Assistant Prosecutor Jill Patterson said she expected to
prosecute similar cases as part of a new policy targeting mothers who
use illegal drugs shortly before giving birth.

[name redacted], 19, was charged Tuesday with one count of first-degree
endangering the welfare of a child, a class C felony punishable by up
to seven years in prison.

A toxicology report found that [name redacted] had methamphetamine in 
her system
when she gave birth in May to her daughter at St. John's Hospital,
according to the probable cause statement filed in the case. When
questioned by a Springfield police officer, Weese admitted to smoking
about a gram of methamphetamine three days before giving birth.

Tests of the baby's excrement sent to a Minnesota lab tested positive
for the drug, as well.

Patterson said the new policy of charging mothers who use drugs close
to childbirth is the result of conversations and "brainstorming" with
pediatricians and police.

"It's something I've been aware of for quite some time," she said.
Advice from doctors  who could provide expert testimony about the
damage of prenatal drug use  helped establish a focus for prosecution,
she said. "I've determined that how you do that, at least initially,
is by prosecuting the ones who test positive at birth."

Although she hasn't ruled out filing charges in cases that involve
marijuana or other drugs, Patterson said pediatricians singled out
cocaine and methamphetamine as posing the most significant risks to
newborns.

"There has to be a pretty clear relationship between the risks (posed
by the mother's behavior) and the effects on the child," she said.
"... If you're using meth close to birth, there are very immediate
risks."

Patterson said officers won't be looking at tests taken as part of
prenatal care. "We don't want to discourage prenatal care ... I don't
think having a policy that says we're looking at people who test
positive at birth should do that."

Patterson said that as part of the new effort, she has been working
with police to establish a system that would initiate a police
response when a new mother tests positive for drugs  a similar system
triggers newborn crisis assessments by the Missouri Department of
Social Services' Children's Division.

Deborah Scott, a spokeswoman for the Department of Social Services,
said the agency does not track the number of children removed from
their parents by type of drug  yet. But drugs, especially
methamphetamine, are often a factor.

"We track the number of children that are removed from their parents
annually due to a drug-related cause," Scott said Wednesday. "... Of
the approximately 11,000 children in the Children's Division's
custody, about 29 percent of them had parental drug use as a condition
of removal (as of March, 2005)."

She said the agency is working to modify its automated system to track
methamphetamine-related cases separately. Preliminary data on
meth-related cases is expected in the first quarter of 2006.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake