--
Donna DeVore Metler
Orff Music Specialist/Kindermusik
Mother to Angel Brian Anthony 1/1/2002, 22 weeks, severe PE/HELLP
And Allison Joy, 11/25/04 (35 weeks, PIH, Pre-term labor)
"Sarah Vaughan" <nannyogg@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:g6ovi2$5fg$1$8300dec7@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Banty wrote:
>> In article <vaur84p9ve6ion5o7p8jebca0879k313kb@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>, Nan says...
>>> On Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:40:17 -0700 (PDT), Beliavsky
>>> <beliavsky@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>>
>>>> If parents are using illegal drugs but are not directly involving the
>>>> child in their activities (for example by having the child take drugs
>>>> or buy the drugs), I am uncomfortable with calling in the police
>>>> because of what a child says or because of his/her appearance.
>>> Why am I not surprised you'd say this....
>>>
>>
>> In my county we had a family of five, both parents and three elementary
>> and
>> junior high school aged boys, murdered one night in their home and
their
>> house
>> burned down as a cover. The culprits, who were both recently
convicted,
>> were
>> drug dealers who had constant business with the father, who was also a
>> dealer.
>>
>> Their parents were proud, we were told later by associates, that they
>> "kept
>> their kids out of" their drug dealing by only doing deals after their
>> bedtimes,
>> etc.
>>
>> So these boys were not directly involved in the drug dealing. Would
you
>> say
>> that were *affected*??!?
>
> Of course, and tragically so. But they would also have been 'affected'
by
> being whisked off into foster care. And, based on what I've read about
> the whole attitude to illicit drugs in the US (and I will accept
> correction if I've picked up the wrong picture here), I do feel there's
a
> real risk that this might happen even in cases where the parents *are*
> providing a loving and decent home to the children despite their drug
use.
> I think that sort of thing, rather than the situation re****ted in an
> earlier post where a child came to school having actually *taken* a
drug,
> is what Beliavsky may have been talking about.
>
If you can tell a child has been near a meth lab just by walking into the
room, the child IS being affected neurologically and probably
behaviorally.
And that's no one's definition of a "loving, decent" home. And, no, they
do
not immediately swoop in and take the children, because it's entirely
possible that the Meth lab is next door or the floor below in the housing
project. What would happen is that a search warrant would be called to
check
for presence of a lab, and CPS would talk to the parent or parents and any
other adults in residence. If the adults are producing meth, it will
probably be pretty apparent in their behavior as well, especially if
they're
also meth users. It would be very difficult for anyone to be near an
active
meth lab without it affecting them. It's a nasty, nasty drug, in all
phases
(and due to the behaviors on the drug, and the rapidness that users become
addicted, even if a parent starts out as a good parent, if they start
using,
it's unlikely they'll be able to remain one for long).
In addition, the most common response here would be, if at all possible,
to
place the children with a relative, or if foster care is needed, to place
them in a foster home close to where they were living, so that the rest of
their life isn't disrupted. And foster homes are a shortage item, so no,
it's not the case that a re****t to CPS automatically leads to the children
being taken. Usually it takes really, really definitive evidence before a
child is removed from a home.
There are instances of illegal drug use that wouldn't meet the standard of
abuse needed for a mandated re****ter to have to re****t. A child re****ting
that his parents smoke out on the ****ch, for example, isn't abusive, even
if
the cigarette doesn't contain tobacco, if the parents are otherwise doing
a
good job. Ditto for the parent who occasionally takes some pills that she
gets from a friend (or, for that matter, from an internet pharmacy). Not
legal, but probably not harming the child.
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