Thursday, January 18, 2007

County drug team joins select group

by Kenneth Lassiter

A group of county officials that formed a task force for drug endangered children in early 2005 recently took steps to become more established by signing official protocols into place.

The Jefferson County Drug Endangered Children Team signed off on the protocols Jan. 9 to become one of about 20 Kansas counties to set forth their processes on everything from prosecutor response regarding children in meth cases to medical and law enforcement responses to those cases. The protocols officially put into writing the steps the agencies will take in dealing with children taken from drug endangered circumstances.

At least 12 agencies are part of the local DEC team, including the county sheriff’s office, health department, ambulance department, court services and county attorney’s office, The Guidance Center in Oskaloosa, the Regional Prevention Center, state Social and Rehabilitative Services, the Northeast Kansas Community Action Program, KVC Behavioral Healthcare, A Child’s World Day Care Center in Oskaloosa and the local Cotton-O’Neil clinics. The team is focused on helping children from drug environments, including homes where methamphetamine is manufactured.

Since forming, the team has received two grants from the Kansas Methamphetamine Prevention Project while taking steps that led to the signing of the protocols Jan. 9. Debbie Seifert, the county’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer and part of the DEC team, said increased awareness about meth has helped in several areas but the drug is still a problem locally.

“We still see meth cases a lot but we’ve seen a reduction in the mom-and-pop labs, I guess you could say,” Seifert said. “There’s been a big decrease in that. We see more of the distribution cases where it comes into the county from elsewhere. The Meth Watch program at grocery stores where they’ve taken some of the ingredients off the shelf and made it a little harder to get, and the extension office doing more education with farmers has helped, I think, in terms of awareness. It’s also gotten more attention nationally because it’s hit the coasts now and isn’t just a rural problem.”

According to the Kansas Alliance for Drug Endangered Children, kids living in drug environments are exposed to a higher risk for harm in several ways. Physical effects can include respiratory conditions and malnourishment as well as developmental delays. Abuse and neglect can be other factors in children rescued from drug homes.

The county team received a $400 grant in late 2006 to continue its efforts. Seifert said the money would go mainly for training, including perhaps sending some health department nurses for training. The team also puts together packs of everything from hygienic materials to crayons and Play-Doh for young and older children rescued from drug homes. Often the children are in need of new clothes as the pervasive nature of meth infuses everything in the home where the meth lab is based, including food and clothing.

The county’s protocols call for children from meth lab homes to undergo a medical assessment within two hours of discovery, be transported to the hospital in case of obvious injuries or burns, be decontaminated before leaving the scene, and undergo a baseline exam within 12 hours before being scheduled for follow-up care.

Other counties with DEC protocols in place include Shawnee, Johnson, Sedgwick and Lyon. Wyandotte, Riley and Saline counties are among those still working on protocols.

“This is basically the last step for us in getting established,” Seifert said. The county is planning to receive a medical training video regarding meth homes in February. “We’ve had great cooperation from every agency we work with. I think it’s helped us all with communication and getting all concerns addressed. I really think it helps us be more efficient.”