DHR TRAINS SOCIAL WORKERS IN HAZARDS OF METH

MONTGOMERY - Clandestine drug labs, outlaw biker gangs and exploding
trailers are hardly typical discussion topics when state social workers
gather for training.

That's about to change.

Last week, the Department of Human Resources began a series of lessons
aimed at teaching the people who look after abused and neglected children
how to spot methamphetamine in troubled homes, and what to do about it.

"The meth demon is stalking the children in Alabama," DHR Commissioner Bill
Fuller told several hundred county supervisors and social workers at the
first session Friday.

Child welfare social workers frequently work in potentially dangerous
homes. But the spread of methamphetamine - a highly addictive form of speed
easily made from household chemicals and cold medicine - has intensified
that risk, officials say.

The close connection in these cases between police and DHR also raises
questions about a social worker's responsibility to law enforcement.

"As a government agent, you are required to report to law enforcement what
you saw," said Tony Calderaro, an Alabama Bureau of Investigation officer
who investigates and cleans up meth labs in south Alabama.

He also cautioned social workers against overreacting once they notice
something amiss. Meth addicts are often paranoid and hostile, he said.

"You represent some form of authority to these people and they resent that.
You may not be the police, but you represent the government."

Calderaro showed slide after slide of makeshift home labs. The dingy rooms
were cluttered with buckets, tubes, acetone, starter fluid, duct tape and
other easily acquired items that can be volatile when combined. Labs also
produce harmful fumes.

"Most of the time, the first person who finds these things has no idea it's
there in the first place," Calderaro said.

The drug, originally popular with California motorcycle gangs, shows up
mostly in rural areas. In Alabama, the Wiregrass region, the northeast
corner of the state and areas outlying Mobile have been hardest hit.

Tips from social workers visiting homes to make sure they're safe for
children have led to drug prosecutions.

These blurring lines between social work and police work prompted Fuller to
announce plans last month to equip every county DHR office with bulletproof
vests and gas masks. Those plans are on hold pending further training.

There are also budget concerns. DHR is slashing at least $20 million from
its budget. Fully equipping the counties with this new gear would cost
about $300,000, Fuller said.

His plans have raised eyebrows among some social workers. Among the concerns:

Social workers are there to protect children and establish trust; storming
in clad in SWAT gear is not conducive to that, they say.

Also, supervisors do not want to put employees in dangerous situations.
Police should always be the first responders. Social workers are not there
to break down doors.

"I'm hoping he decides to not go the route and buy the vests," said
Jefferson County DHR Director Caro Shanahan. "I would not be sending my
workers into a dangerous situation wearing vests because I would not be
sending my workers into a dangerous situation."

The effects of a meth epidemic have grown increasingly painful for children
and families in Marshall County.

The rural northeast Alabama county charted the third-highest number of
child abuse and neglect reports in the state over the last six months -
behind only the much larger Jefferson and Mobile counties, said Kathleen
Rice, program supervisor for child welfare and adult services at the
Marshall County Department of Human Resources.

Most of the reports are substantiated, leading to a spike in the number of
children who need foster care.

Three years ago, 30 to 40 children were in care. "Now it's about 120," Rice
said.

"I'm somewhat surprised on a neglect case anymore, not seeing meth somehow
involved," said Marshall County District Court Judge Howard Hawk, who
oversees the majority of DHR cases in the Guntersville area. "If we have
neglect you begin to think meth is involved, because you're seeing it so much."

Fuller said he would make a decision on the masks and vests after
additional training sessions. He needs more information about the risks.

Seven sessions for 1,300 more DHR workers are scheduled at junior colleges.