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.
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