Pubdate: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 Source: Hartford Courant (CT) Copyright: 2001 The Hartford Courant Contact: http://www.hartfordcourant.com/ Forum: http://chat.courant.com/scripts/webx.exe Author: Tina A. Brown Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) BOY, 5, OUSTED OVER HEROIN The 5-year-old Hartford boy who turned in 20 packets of heroin Monday to his day-care teacher has been suspended from the pre-school program pending investigations by police and the state Department of Children and Families, authorities said. Jacquline Majors-Myles, the executive director of the YWCA for the Hartford region, said Wednesday that her agency, which operates the Growing Tree Early Learning Center on Garden Street in Hartford, took the action because police have so far been unable to determine how the child obtained the drugs. Once that is determined, she said, the center will decide whether to re-enroll the student. Majors-Mylers said the YWCA educates more than 800 children each day. Although the organization has programs to teach older children what to do when they come in contact with illegal drugs, until Monday's incident, teachers hadn't considered developing an anti-drug program for pre-schoolers. "It's a shame that children can't be children anymore," she said, adding that a new, age-appropriate anti-drug program is being considered. The boy was preparing for recess shortly before noon Monday when he pulled the bags of heroin, already packed for sale, from his pockets. He told his teacher he didn't want them anymore, police said. The teacher immediately reported the incident to the day-care center's director, who reported it to police and state officials, said Margaret Nareff, the director of the YWCA's youth programs. Parents were told about the incident Monday. A letter written by Majors-Mylers told the 50 parents of children attending the day-care program, "Let me assure you, at no time was the health or safety of any other child or staff member at risk." On Wednesday morning, children could be heard laughing from the center's lobby. "We tried to keep things normal for them," Nareff said. Since the incident, DCF and police have launched separate investigations. The boy's mother, Maurene DaCosta, 34, of Hartford, was charged with risk of injury to a minor. But police are testing the packages for fingerprints to determine who might have had the drugs prior to their coming into the boy's possession. DaCosta declined to be interviewed Wednesday. She has said she does not know how her son got the drugs. The boy was not living with his mother as of Wednesday. DCF has not taken custody, and the family does not have a DCF case file, said agency spokesman Gary Kleeblatt. - --- MAP posted-by: GD