Pubdate: Tue, 03 Apr 2007 Source: Statesman Journal (Salem, OR) Copyright: 2007 Statesman Journal Contact: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/427 TARGET PARENTS USING METH TO SAVE THEIR CHILDREN With Help, They Can Become Clean, Get Their Kids Back The face of meth is the face of a child. Members of Salem's Drug Activity Response Team keep snapshots of children's faces on their wall. That's how they get the stomach to enter drug homes where bugs feast on dried food and meth sits within easy reach of kids. Yet the face of a child also can inspire a meth-addicted parent to get well, authorities say. During April, Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month, the Statesman Journal will report on some of these stories. Looking at the photo galleries of meth homes that accompanied Sunday's Page 1 story, it's hard to believe that some meth users are able to turn their lives around. The color photos online give a horrifying child's-eye view of life for 14 kids in two Salem households where adults were arrested on meth charges. Drugs so dominated the parents' lives that they didn't keep animal feces off the floor and didn't keep a clean spot in the kitchen to prepare food. For the past few years, the Mid-Valley has focused on the front end of the meth battle, as it should: Get the kids out of danger. Get them to a safe place. Prosecute the parents before kids grow up thinking this is normal and pass the same life on to their own children. Civic leaders have awakened our community to these needs. Scores of families have signed up to be trained as foster parents. New homes have opened to take children in a crisis, giving state workers time to find foster families where siblings can stay together. A methamphetamine strike force has raised private funds to supplement tax-supported law enforcement efforts. As for the parents, authorities say many meth addicts can get clean, given good treatment and time. It may take a couple of years for the toxic effects of meth to wear off. But locally, about 72 percent of kids eventually return to the parent from whom they were removed, or with another parent. If that's the case, this community can't write off meth addicts as beyond hope. We owe it to these children to learn more about saving parents as well as kids. So during this month, do something to help our abused and neglected children -- nearly all of them the "unintended consequences of meth," as local leaders have said. Do something for our community's children. - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine