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The Calvert Gazette Thursday, December 6, 2012 12 STORY Prescription Drug Abuse Impacting Foster Care Programs By Guy Leonard Staff Writer Officials in St. Mary’s and Calvert counties’ foster care programs are burgeoning with children and that the recent rise in prescription drug abuse, from either legal or illegal sources, is the prime driver of the need to place children into foster care. Jeanne Schmitt, assistant director for services with the St. Mary’s County Department of Social Services, said that there are about 150 children in foster care, adding drug abuse in general “has contributed to the growth of children in foster care.” Prescription drug abuse, a segment of that problem, she said, is a rising trend impacting children whose parents succumb to it. “Is it a growing number? Yes,” she said. The foster care system and social services officials often work with families before children are removed from the home: therefore, Schmitt said it is not easy to ascertain just how many children in the county are being negatively affected by the prescription drug abuse of their parents “It still places children at risk,” Schmitt said. “But we can still work with those families.” Ella Mae Russell, the director of the local social services office, said that removing a child from a home into the foster system was a complicated process. It could only occur, she said, once a judge ruled to remove the child. “The decision to remove a child has to be made by the court,” Russell said. Relatives often take the children going into foster care, to the tune of roughly half in St. Mary’s County. Relatives, acting as foster parents, receive benefits, including cash assistance and is ideal in an already difficult situation, according to Social Services. “We have one of the highest numbers of kinship care in the state and that’s a good thing,” Russell said. Schmitt said social service workers try to ascertain whether a parent, who is legally prescribed prescription drugs, is abusing them; however, it is difficult because subjects often refuse to allow them access to their medical records. Prescription narcotics are relatively Prescription drugs confiscated on raids and arrests. Photo By Frank Marquart ABSOLUTE LENDER ORDERED St. Mary’s County, MD Mixed-Use Development Land Glazed Pine, Three Notch Rd Lexington Park • 224+/- Acres • Planned for 1,295,004 sf office & retail • Planned for 228 residential units Dec 14 at Noon Fully Leased Single Family Home 45550 Fore Edwards Ct., Great Mills • 2,418+/-sf • 4BR, 2.5BA 2 Residential Condos 45485 Westmeath Way, Units G24 & G33, Great Mills • 1,174+/-sf • 2BR, 2BA The Calv ROP 1/2 p Thur Thur Tranzon Fox TRANZON.COM 888-621-2110
13 Thursday, December 6, 2012 The Calvert Gazette easy to get because of their medicinal use for pain management, she said. “People claim things like they have a back ache or are in pain but [doctors] really can’t [disprove] that,” she said. Schmitt said the range of children now entering foster care is increasing and their age is going down. Now the children enter foster care as pre-teens and younger rather than as teenagers, officials said, who also warned that sibling groups are being displaced more frequently. “It’s been a steady climb since 2000,” Schmitt said. “But the most growth has been in the last five to seven years.” In Calvert County, social service specialists say that the foster system has begun to explode with more children needing services. They have also seen a decrease in the ages of those needing care as well as an overall increase in the number of children. Deborah Walsh, assistant director for social services in Calvert, said that prescription drug abuse has undoubtedly contributed to the growth in the need for foster care. She said that, as of September of this year, of the 103 children in the system 82 percent were removed because of some kind of alcohol or drug abuse in the home. Of the children removed into foster care eight were newborns exposed to drug or substance, she said. Seventy-eight percent of the parents interviewed in those cases reported that their drug of choice were prescription opiates, which types of synthetic heroin, she said. Walsh said there was a “direct correlation” between prescription narcotic abuse and children being placed in foster care. “Most of our situations are neglect,” she said. “They’re just not able to provide for their children because they are either high or going out to get drugs. It’s a tough battle we have ahead of us.” The head narcotics detective in St. Mary’s County, Capt. Daniel Alioto, said that when it came to prescription drug abuse, more and more children are paying the price along with their parents who used narcotics. “The problem is here and it’s here to stay,” he said. “We’re going to lose a generation if we don’t wise up.” Parents facing conviction and sentencing for prescription drug crimes often appear in court with their children to try and get a lighter sentence, he said. It was just one way children were impacted, he said. “Kids are always collateral damage,” Alioto said. guyleonard@countytimes.net Photo By Frank Marquart St. Mary’s SWAT like these are often called to serve high-risk warrants including on suspects dealing in prescription narcotics. Over 250,000 Southern Marylanders can’t be wrong! Your Online Community for Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary’s Counties New to the area? Lifelong resident? • Stay abreast of local happenings • Check our highly popular classifieds • Speak your mind in the forums • Enter our contests and win terrific prizes Stop by and see what Southern Maryland Online has to offer! www.somd.com
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