By Nancy Martinez
The San Antonio Express-News
SAN ANTONIO — It’s a scene that has played out too often in San Antonio: Children found in homes where drugs and chaos thrive.
To protect the youngest victims of drug abuse, law enforcement officials and child advocates announced Wednesday a new policy that could lead to more child-endangerment convictions.
The Bexar County Drug Endangered Children Team -- comprising local law enforcement, child advocates and officials from the district attorney’s office -- signed an agreement vowing to “rescue, defend, shelter and support” children who suffer because of their drug-abusing, drug-dealing caregivers.
Child Protective Services officials described the new policy as a “new ally that stands ready to protect” children.
“Sometimes intentionally, sometimes not, (caregivers) expose their children to the damaging fumes of meth labs, the frightening sights of heroin being shot into their veins, and the odor of crack -- scenes and sounds that no child should have to witness,” said Sherry Gomez, local CPS director. “Today, we come together to say no more.”
Before Wednesday, law enforcement officers called CPS caseworkers after they did their work. The new protocol means law enforcement will find out in advance if children might be present at the home during a drug raid and alert CPS. A caseworker will then be sent to the scene to work alongside law enforcement.
CPS officials say the new collaboration was in the works for more than a year because of an increase in CPS cases that involved drugs.
Police Chief William McManus said children have been present in most homes where drug raids happen. Local CPS spokeswoman Mary Walker thinks it’s about 70 percent of the cases CPS encounters.
Gomez said children have walked investigators through the steps of how to make methamphetamines, and one child mimicked his father smoking crack and set the house on fire.
CPS data obtained by the San Antonio Express-News showed that in fiscal year 2006, out of 17,536 children removed from their homes by CPS, 10,323 were removed at least partly because of a caretaker’s substance abuse.
A multimedia presentation at the Wednesday news conference at CPS headquarters on Southeast Military Drive gave a sobering glimpse into a case. CPS officials played an audio clip and displayed photos of children who were found last year in local homes. A CPS investigator was conducting an interview at a home when Bexar County deputies rammed in during a drug raid, which the investigator recorded. As undercover officers burst through the door, children in the home, upset and confused, screamed and cried.
Gomez said children cared for by people with drug problems often suffer from physical, emotional or sexual abuse and neglect. And, Gomez said, some children have suffered injuries from explosions, fire or toxic chemicals in homes where methamphetamine was being processed in makeshift laboratories.
District Attorney Susan Reed, who on Wednesday wore socks that read “Dopers Suck,” said she believed the new policy would lead to more child endangerment convictions.
“I’m thrilled that CPS and our law enforcement branches are going to collaborate on what is a tremendous issue in this community. I need law enforcement to be on their toes finding these people who place children in a dangerous situation,” Reed said. “I’m going to prosecute anything I can, and if you’re going to endanger your kids, trust me, I’m going to prosecute.”
Replied McManus: “I can assure you today that we will be very vigilant and take full advantage of this collaboration.”
Copyright 2008 San Antonio Express-News