Senator Dewine introduces a bill to create a National Methamphetamine Information Clearinghouse
FLOOR STATEMENT
NATIONAL METHAMPHETAMINE INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE
U.S. SENATOR MIKE DeWINE
NOVEMBER 17, 2005
Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, today I am introducing a bill that would create a National Methamphetamine Information Clearinghouse (NMIC). This web-based source of information would promote sharing of “best practices” regarding law enforcement, treatment, environmental, social services, and other programs to combat the production, use, and effects of methamphetamine.
The purpose of the NMIC is to make a one-stop shop, where all the “best practices” in the fight against meth can be found -- information from law enforcement, treatment-based organizations, social services and environmental agencies. It will be a website providing information that agencies and organizations submit, describing what has worked in their local communities. The people who have had success with addressing meth and meth-related issues will be providing this information. Additionally, there will be information and links regarding available grants for establishing and maintaining anti-meth programs.
The NMIC will serve two distinct populations -- law enforcement and the broader community. The NMIC will contain a restricted access section where law enforcement will be able to post their successful strategies, training techniques, and conference notes so that other law enforcement will be able to get ideas and incorporate them in their own jurisdictions. The unrestricted portion of the website will include resources for other agencies and the public at large. For example, child protection agencies might post techniques on dealing with meth orphans, community health centers might post treatment options that provided them with some success, and environmental groups might post tips on cleaning up the toxic waste.
So, a landlord or hotel owner whose property was used as a meth lab and who wants to be able to rent out the property again, or the mother who wants to figure out if her child is a meth addict -- and what to do if she is – they would all be able to find useful information on the site.
One of our challenges in the fight against meth is finding those who need assistance and connecting them with those who can help -- and that is exactly what this clearinghouse can do. Many people and organizations that have had some success in controlling meth are more than willing to share the techniques they found that work, if only they knew who needed the information. And, there are those who are just starting to attack the meth problem in their communities and need guidance as to how to make that start an effective one. The NMIC can help bring those groups of people together and enhance everyone’s ability to fight the plague of meth.
NMIC will be housed under the auspices of the Department of Justice and will be governed by an Advisory Council comprised of 10 members from a variety of agencies and organizations. It is this Council who will monitor the submissions to the Clearinghouse and make sure that the information found on the site is accurate, up-to-date, and useful.
The bill I am introducing today provides the basic outline of this idea, and over the next two months, I will be working closely with law enforcement and community groups to modify and improve the Clearinghouse before we move forward with this legislation next year. I look forward to that process and encourage all of my colleagues to join me in this effort to combat the meth problem.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that my remarks appear in the Record immediately following the text of the bill.
The Cincinnati Enquirer recently published an article on meth detailing the need of federal assistance. (PDF 482 KB)
NACHSA National Association of County Human Services Administrators
An Affiliate Organization of the National Association of Counties
Testimony for the Record
Dianne Edwards
President
National Association of County Human Services Administrators
"Fighting Meth in America’s Heartland: Assessing the Impact on Law Enforcement and Child Welfare Agencies"
Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources
Committee on Government Reform
U.S. House of Representatives
July 26, 2005
The National Association of County Human Services Administrators (NACHSA) welcomes the opportunity to submit this statement for the record. As an affiliate of the National Association of Counties (NACo), NACHSA’s mission is to promote local human services networks.
NACHSA’s members have responsibility for various functions, depending on the state. These functions include child protection, adult protection, welfare and social services. Some umbrella agencies also have responsibility for mental health and substance abuse.
As an affiliate of NACo, NACHSA is represented on its methamphetamine task force. NACHSA members also participated in NACo’s July 5 study by vetting the questions and responding to the survey. NACHSA members were also asked last week to provide additional information on the impact of meth on their human services systems in order to prepare for NACo’s testimony. A number of child welfare directors responded to the e-mail request. Their responses provide a snapshot of meth’s impact on the child welfare system.
Since 1987, Sacramento County, CA has tracked the incidence of infants who were born and identified as being affected by illegal substance abuse. Over the 17 years, the total number of referrals to child protective services increased by 17 percent. During this time, the use of meth has increased exponentially. For the most recent fiscal year (2003-2004), of those family cases referred to court services where substance abuse was the primary reason for the referral, 70 percent of the 82 cases involved meth abuse.
In 2001, Sacramento County instituted a Dependency Drug Court (DCC) in an effort to increase collaboration between the court, child protective services and substance abuse treatment agencies. The DCC’s ultimate objective is to increase compliance with treatment programs and other services in order to increase successful family reunification rates. Over the three years of the DCC, nearly 52 percent of the participants reported meth as their primary drug problem. That percentage has increased over the life of the DCC, however, with nearly 60 percent of the individuals entering the system in 2004 reporting meth as the primary drug problem.
Unfortunately, Sacramento County is not unique. Located at the northwestern tip of California, Del Norte County (Crescent City) reports that at least two-thirds of their child welfare services’ foster care caseload is specifically associated with meth. According to the County’s Director of Health and Human Services, "We are drowning in it." The community is organizing around the issue and planning a symposium in October.
The effect of meth on Sonoma County has been equally devastating. Just six years ago meth was the first or second drug of choice for approximately 21 percent of its clients and today it is involved in more than 41 percent of its cases. In the last six months 20 percent of the cases infants removed from their homes by the child welfare agency were due to meth use.
In Merced County, California, it is estimated that 67 to 75 percent of child welfare services cases are methamphetamine-related. Marijuana is the secondary drug of choice and is often used in addition to meth.
In response to methamphetamine labs, the County’s child welfare services agency partnered with law enforcement and public health to form a Drug Endangered Children's (DEC) team. A full time social worker has been assigned to the team to assist in drug lab raids. In response to the growing epidemic, the assignment of a second social worker to the team is imminent. The DEC social worker reports that she was involved in 10-12 methamphetamine laboratory busts last year. In addition, the DEC social worker accompanied the team on 47 drug-related busts in the first six months of this year. Most drug-related busts involve multiple families with children. Some of the children that might otherwise have been detained were released to appropriate relatives, including non-offending parents.
In Colorado, La Plata County (Durango) reports that it has seen a significant increase in the numbers of children who are placed in foster care due to their parents' methamphetamine use. In 2003, the County placed one child in foster care directly due to meth issues of the parents, and four others were placed in foster care who had parents with some meth involvement. The year 2004 saw placement of nine children in foster care directly due to meth issues of the parents, and six others who were placed in foster care had parents with some meth involvement.
For 2005 to date, the County has placed 12 children in foster care directly due to meth issues of the parents, and six others who were placed in foster care had parents with some meth involvement. In a span of less than two years, placements have jumped from five meth-related cases in 2003 to 18 already in 2005.
County human services agencies in the Midwest are also confronting the problem. In Washington County, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities, meth is the primary issue in 30 percent of their child protection assessments and a secondary factor in another 25 percent of cases. Twenty-eight percent of the County’s out-of-home placements in 2004 were directly attributable to meth (95 of 342 children placed). That number includes all placements including those with a serious emotional disturbance, developmental disabilities, or other factors. When the County isolates those cases considered "child protection", the out-of-home placement percentage surges to 65 percent.
The human services department in LaCrosse County, Wisconsin is experiencing a startling increase in meth cases. During the first quarter of 2005, the County placed eight children in foster care as a result of abuse and neglect. In April and May, it placed an additional 20 children in foster care, the majority a result of parental involvement with meth. The County currently has five mothers in jail as a result of meth – a phenomenon which has never happened before.
Located on the banks of the Mississippi River, the County reports that it is sending social workers out with law enforcement to investigate reported cases of meth abuse. They are encountering instances such as one case where they found a two year old child who had no clothes on except for a dirty diaper. There was no food in the house. The child had a gash on his forehead from being in an automobile accident earlier in the evening. The parents were taken into custody and a medical evaluation of the child determined he had meth in his system. The County reports that meth is a very recent issue in its community and it has begun to develop a collaborative community effort to combat meth. It is working with other counties in Wisconsin and Iowa to learn how other jurisdictions have responded to the epidemic.
The epidemic is also spreading to the east. Located in the foothills of northwestern North Carolina, Wilkes County (Wilkesboro) reports that methamphetamine abuse has had the most significant negative impact on families and children affected by this drug of anything their child protective services workers have ever encountered. They are finding that methamphetamine is affecting not only child protective services, but the school system, mental health, law enforcement, the private sector and its economy, as well.
Children’s Protective Services in Clermont County (population 185,000) in Southwest Ohio has been hit hard by the effects of methamphetamines. Due to the proactive work of law enforcement, the County has led Ohio in the discovery of meth labs, with over 40 shut down in the past two years. With the busts, however, often comes the incarceration of the parents and leaves behind the children who need safe homes. From January of 2003 through January of 2004 the number of Clermont County children in foster care increased by 37 percent. This dramatic rise was due, almost exclusively, to the impact of meth. The increase has strained the financial stability of the department, and filled the County’s foster homes. To address the epidemic, Children’s Protective Services is collaborating with a number of community partners, including law enforcement, courts, the Family and Children First Council, and its Mental Health and Recovery Board.
The effect of methamphetamine on county welfare agencies is widespread and getting worse. It requires a multidisciplinary and intergovernmental effort. NACHSA believes that prevention is the key to the methamphetamine epidemic. A public education campaign would be a crucial aspect of prevention. The Internet can be an excellent tool to reach children and youth. Clermont County, Ohio recently launched a website dedicated to providing public awareness of the methamphetamine problem, which they have named death2meth.com.
However, despite their best efforts, the County’s costs of confronting meth continue to increase. This November, Clermont County voters will consider whether to increase the tax which specifically supports children’s services.
Most children in need of mental health or substance abuse services do not have access to adequate services. Children in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems have a disproportionately high need for mental health and substance abuse services. In-patient and children’s health treatment beds are scarce, resulting in worsening problems, including violence. NACHSA supports increased federal funding for school-based mental health services and for mental health and substance abuse services targeted at at-risk children, especially children who are in the child welfare or juvenile justice system.
County child welfare systems need to be able to respond to sudden crises such as the methamphetamine epidemic. For this reason, NACHSA opposes proposals to change the foster care system from an open-ended entitlement into a block grant or a capped allocation as proposed in the President’s budget. If counties had been operating under a capped allocation they would not have had the resources to respond to the increased child welfare caseloads.
Additionally, NACHSA is concerned about proposed regulations that would limit the use of foster care administrative cost dollars. For example, the proposed rule states that child welfare agencies may only claim one month of administrative costs for children transitioning from ineligible facilities to a licensed foster family home or childcare institution. The rule would also mandate that the reimbursement claims be submitted after the child is in an eligible placement. Children who have been exposed to methamphetamine often have multiple problems and need very specialized services. It often takes longer than one month to find the appropriate placement and complete case plans. Current regulations allow up to 60 days to complete case plans, yet these new rules would have the effect of giving county child welfare agencies less time to complete the case plans for the more difficult cases, which will shift additional costs to state and local governments.
Human services administrators are an integral part of the system in confronting meth abuse. NACHSA stands ready to work with the Committee in addressing this epidemic and appreciates the opportunity to submit this statement for the record.
For further information please contact:
Dianne Edwards, NACHSA President
Human Services Director
Sonoma County, Calif.
707-565-5800
dedwards@schsd.org
Marilina Sanz, NACo Staff
Liaison
Associate Legislative Director
202-942-4260
msanz@naco.org