CHILDREN OF METH USERS OFTEN END UP IN FOSTER CARE

PRESCOTT - Three months ago, Child Protective Services took custody of
two girls from Bridge Canyon after the Seligman Unified School
District called the agency because the girls' mother forgot to pick
them up.

The school reported that this was an ongoing problem with this
family.

When a Yavapai County Sheriff's Office deputy went to the residence
and told the mother that her daughters were in CPS custody, she
"didn't seem to really care," he stated in his report.

Based on his observation of the mother's behavior and his experience
on dealing with drug users, the deputy concluded that the mother was
under the influence of a central nervous stimulant, possibly
methamphetamine.

Once a family gets the state's attention, evaluation and referrals to
substance abuse and mental health programs will ensue with the hope
that parents will reunite with their children, who are now in foster
care.

However, the reality is that only those with a strong desire will
reunite with their children on the road to sobriety.

Arizona Family F.I.R.S.T (AFF) is a program the state implemented in
2001 with the goal to create community substance abuse prevention and
treatment. A study the AFF released in February indicates that only 16
percent of children in foster care reunified with their parents or
guardians who were participating in the AFF program.

Jean Littlehale, an assistant site director for the Catholic Social
Services of Yavapai, an agency that also handles AFF clients through a
contract with the state, said the volume of clients who received
referrals to the program is a concern.

"We get between 30 and 40 individuals a month," she said. "And those
are all coming from Child Protective Services. All of them have at
least one child, but the average is 2.5 children per family."

Between 70 to 80 percent of people who received referrals for services
qualify for state benefits, Littlehale said.

"We are seeing a very specific slice of that (substance-dependent)
population and not the whole picture," she said. "The people that have
other opportunities are taking advantage of their other
opportunities."

The AFF study also indicates that in 65 percent of the cases, a
30-year-old Caucasian woman was the profile of a participating AFF
client.

In 40 percent of cases, methamphetamine was the drug of choice,
followed by alcohol (32 percent), marijuana (26 percent) and cocaine
(13 percent). Six out of 10 clients or 63 percent were poly-substance
users. The study indicated that "the high use of methamphetamine is
alarming."

The study also stated that the recurrence of child abuse and neglect
among CPS families participating in the AFF program was low.

Littlehale said children who grew up in a meth exposed-environment are
more likely to have Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorders (ADHD),
which make learning more difficult.

Neglect and abuse that parents have exposed children to affect their
intellectual development, their focus in the classroom and their
ability to bond with other people and have healthy relationships
themselves, she said.

She said parents who receive a referral for substance abuse treatment
are really motivated because they want to get back their children from
CPS.

However, on the road to recovery, besides dealing with substance
abuse, a dependency case, and possible criminal charges, the family
has to deal with day-to-day issues.

Lack of affordable housing for low-income families and lack of
transportation impose obstacles in this county, Littlehale said.

"Bringing the families to the place where they need to receive
services and bringing parents and children together, all of these
things require transportation," Littlehale said. "It is a big county."

In addition, some families have to overcome substance abuse issues
three family generations have perpetuated.

"In a lot of cases, we are looking at third generation substance abuse
families," Littlehale said. "When a family begins its recovery
process, they need to find a new set of friends, a new place to work.
They need to find a kind of support that (one gets) from families.
Their families may not be supportive. They need to figure out how to
parent effectively because they probably were not parented effectively
themselves."

She said parents with substance abuse who don't have custody of their
children learn about parenting through the Family Drug Court.

Littlehale said substance abuse is a chronic relapsing disease. When
the user begins treatment, treatment providers discuss all aspects of
relapse and what they mean.