Pubdate: Mon, 07 Jul 2003 Source: Decatur Daily (AL) Copyright: 2003 The Decatur Daily Contact: http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/index.shtml Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/696 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) SOCIAL WORKERS TO WEAR VESTS, PROTECTIVE GEAR MONTGOMERY (AP) - The Alabama Department of Human Resources will start outfitting some Alabama social workers with bulletproof vests and other protective gear, in large part because of a rising number of encounters with makers and users of crystal methamphetamine. Reports of child abuse and neglect are increasingly linked with the use of the dangerous drug, which is a powerful stimulant, DHR Commissioner Bill Fuller said. "Our young men and women who are child welfare case workers find themselves thrust into a very dangerous, very risky situation in a growing number of cases" when they visit homes where parents make the drug, Fuller told The Montgomery Advertiser. "We believe there is a new and urgent need for safety equipment." Cost estimates for the equipment range between $100,000 and $200,000. Some of the department's 1,400 child welfare social workers will also be trained by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation in handling confrontations with crystal meth producers and other drug users, Fuller said. No child welfare workers have been injured yet, Fuller said. Meth users dangerous Authorities say crystal meth users are so dangerous because they feel "10 feet tall and bulletproof." But Angie Flowers, a child welfare investigator in Autauga County, said parents who use other drugs pose equal threats because of the charged atmosphere surrounding a visit from DHR. "You're going in the home and talking about the possibility of their children being removed from them; it's a dangerous situation," Flowers said. Flowers said the Autauga County DHR is usually accompanied by local police and sheriffs' departments on home visits that could be dangerous. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake