Pubdate: Mon, 17 May 1999
Source: Calgary Sun (Canada)
Copyright: 1999, Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact:  http://www.canoe.ca/CalgarySun/
Forum: http://www.canoe.ca/Chat/home.html
Author: Mike D'Amour

DRUG BABES FIND LOVE

Fostering gives kids a chance

Calgary police Const. Seth Macaig has put 10 drug addicts in the pen -- the
playpen, that is.

The District 1 officer is used to busting street vermin of all types, but
for the past couple of years, he and his wife have been looking after drug-
and alcohol-addicted babies that may have been born to those he arrested.

"We got this guy when he was only 5 lbs.," said Macaig, 27, while cradling a
tiny, black-haired three-week-old boy in the east Airdrie home he shares
with his wife, Erin, and their own three children.

"We suspect he's FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome), but he hasn't been tested for
that yet."

The Macaig's only care for advanced needs children, such as those who those
who suffer from FAS or more serious ailments, like being born to crack
cocaine-addicted mothers.

And the couple will only take them in for short-term, Macaig said.
"Realistically, I might not come home tomorrow, being a cop and all," he
said.

"If we went permanent (placement) and something happened to me, Erin would
have another kid to look after."

While the couple has cared for many children who never had a break, there's
one three-week-old baby girl they recently had they can't get out of their
minds.

"She tested positive for everything," Erin said.

"She was going through huge drug withdrawal when we had her," Seth added.

Nobody knows as well as Macaig just how fleeting life can be.

He was one the first cops at the Easter weekend tragedy where three-year-old
Phelan Layng, and his four-year-old half-brother, Derek Lynes, were
killed -- allegedly at the hands of their babysitter.

"I had to stay with the bodies and go to the autopsies," Macaig said, his
voice low and soft.

"It was the hardest case I've had so far -- it was horrible, really tough."

About 1,100 Calgary and area children are currently in foster care, said
Bill Meade, CEO of the Calgary Rocky View Child and Family Services
Authority.

"And certainly more than 50 percent of those are high needs kids," he said.

The latest statistics reveal that about 80 people are moving to Calgary each
day and that's one reason Meade says they're always trying to recruit new
foster parents.

While the surrogates do get paid for their service, Meade warns it's not an
income.

"No one will get rich doing this," he said.

But that was never an issue for Macaig, an only child of parents who've
fostered more than 300 kids.

"My parents have been fostering for 27 years," the two-year police veteran
said from his home bursting with cribs, swings, toys, and boxes and boxes of
children's clothes in every size.

"We're just trying to give them something all kids should have," added Erin,
"It's just knowing they've had the opportunity to be in a real family, even
if it's for a short time."

Her husband agrees and hopes the children take som-ething with them when
they leave.

"I guess it's knowing, even if the kids do go home to an environment that
isn't that good, they did experience what a good home and stable family is.

"So when they get older, they might remember it and the (bad parenting)
cycle won't continue."

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