Pubdate: Fri, 23 Aug 2002
Source: Arizona Republic (AZ)
Copyright: 2002 The Arizona Republic
Contact:  http://www.arizonarepublic.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24
Author: Nena Baker
Note: Republic reporter Robbie Sherwood contributed to this article.

ARIZONA LACKS LAW TO PROTECT CRACK BABIES, EXPERTS SAY AFTER INFANT'S DEATH

Lawmakers on Thursday demanded to know why a baby born with cocaine in her 
system was sent home from a hospital with her mother, dying a week later 
from a steady stream of secondhand crack cocaine smoke that ravaged her 
intestines.

The short, tortured life of Anndreah Robertson seems to scream of abuse and 
neglect.

But the fact is that babies such as Anndreah, born with drugs in their 
systems, are sent home almost daily in Arizona and other states that don't 
have laws that make prenatal substance abuse a crime.

"The mere fact that a parent uses drugs doesn't, in Arizona, constitute 
neglect," said John Krall, policy analyst for the Abandoned Infants 
Assistance Resource Center in Berkeley, Calif. "And the only reason that 
any child can be removed is for abuse or neglect."

On Wednesday, after a nine-month investigation, the infant's mother, 
Demitres Robertson, 23, was charged with first-degree murder and child 
abuse. The baby's grandmother and primary caretaker, Lillian Ann Butler, 
44, was charged with two counts of child abuse.

The day after charges were filed, top administrators of the state Division 
of Children, Youth and Families, which oversees Child Protective Services, 
promised lawmakers an independent investigation into the way the agency 
handled the case.

CPS officials acknowledge they knew three weeks before Anndreah's Oct. 30 
birth that crack cocaine was being used in her family's central Phoenix 
apartment. However, some experts agreed with agency officials who said the 
state had no authority to keep Anndreah from going home from the hospital 
or to remove her two older brothers from the household.

Since 2000, Arizona has required that health care professionals notify CPS 
when they encounter a drug-affected newborn. CPS investigates such reports 
and provides the family with health services, said Anna Arnold, associate 
director of the Division of Children, Youth and Families.

"Even in this case, when we substantiated the use of substances, that 
doesn't necessarily mean we'll remove children," she said. "A lot of people 
have asked, 'Wasn't the mother's cocaine use proof enough?' But it's not."

In Arizona, there is no law that makes prenatal substance abuse a crime. In 
1995, an Arizona Court of Appeals ruling found that heroin use during 
pregnancy does not constitute child abuse under Arizona statutes. CPS 
officials said the ruling ties their hands.

CPS must find evidence that children are in imminent danger, Arnold said. 
Drug use by parents or adults in the household does not necessarily mean 
that a child isn't being fed or clothed. She said the agency's 
investigation of the Robertson household was active at the time of the 
infant's death.

Since the mid-1980s, when crack cocaine created an epidemic of drug babies, 
policymakers have struggled to address substance abuse during pregnancy.

Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Ruth Solomon said that it appears CPS 
should have acted, but said caseworkers are "between a rock and a hard 
place" when it comes to substance-abusing parents.

"There are a lot of people in the world who are alcoholics or recreational 
drug users. Do we take their children?" said Solomon, D- Tucson. "But when 
a baby is born crack-addicted, . . . if you are going to err, you should 
err on the side of the safety of the child."

Thirteen states have laws specifying that a baby born exposed to drugs is 
presumed to be abused or neglected and that such a condition provides 
grounds for removing the infant from the mother's custody, according to a 
report released earlier this month by the Guttmacher Institute, a 
Washington, D.C., non-profit for sexual and reproductive health research.

Another state, South Carolina, holds that a woman's prenatal substance 
abuse constitutes criminal child abuse.

House Appropriations Chairwoman Laura Knaperek, a past critic of CPS, said 
it appears that the agency should have taken action in behalf of Anndreah 
Robertson.

"I don't know all the facts yet, but there is an expectation from the 
people of Arizona that our Child Protective Services should step in in 
certain situations, and I would think this would be one of them," said 
Knaperek, R-Tempe. "I don't think we can make the system perfect, but we 
need to hold it accountable."

House Speaker Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix, vowed that lawmakers will get to the 
bottom of the Robertson case.

"I am trying to reserve any judgment until there is more fact-finding 
done," he said. "But it looks like this is just poor judgment."

Weiers said if the investigation reveals that a CPS employee or supervisor 
erred, "we don't want them in that position to be able to make those 
decisions again."
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MAP posted-by: Beth