Sunday, July 3, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | Child abuse cases on the riseBy LEE WILLIAMS The unsanitary conditions Peachtree City police officers found a pregnant mother, her boyfriend and three children living in Monday were shocking. The story of a Fayette County man who allegedly slammed his 2-month-old sons head into a door frame, fracturing his skull on May 3 was troubling. And the story of a Peachtree City woman who allegedly beat her son with a switch and then burned him with a cookie sheet May 9 because he broke a lamp was traumatic. But unfortunately, child abuse cases are becoming commonplace in Fayette County, Fayette County Department of Family and Children Services staff members contend. There has been a sharp rise in child abuses cases. The severity of those cases grows worse everyday, and DFACS case workers fear the trend will not subside anytime soon. Mary Davis, director of DFACS, is working to raise awareness in the county to reverse the trend largely attributed to methamphetamine abuse among parents. Since June 2, 21 children have come into care, Davis said. All but two were meth-related. Two of the children removed from Fayette County homes had fractures from abuse. One of the children had multiple skull fractures, Davis said. But the cases workers see are even more grave, officials say. We had two babies test positive for meth, she said. One was 4 weeks old. The other one was 14 months old. They were from two different families. If someone is cooking meth around you, you will test positive for meth. Children who are taken out of the home generally become part of the foster care system, which also has grown in the last three years, Davis said. When I came to work here in November 2001, we had 45 kids in care, Davis said. At the end of December 2004, we had 110. Davis and her case workers are on the front lines and they know firsthand that methamphetamine abuse in the county has become a problem. There have been efforts afoot by FACTOR, a community collaborative group, to stop the problem. But the public needs to accept that there is a problem to help bring about change, officials say. The community needs to know, she said. The community needs to know that we are getting swamped. We are struggling with the foster care system. Davis said case workers hoped to get a break from the spike in child abuse cases once school let out, but that hasnt happened. Most of our referrals come from the school system, but now the trend is going the other way, Davis said. Due to the surroundings some of the children are found in, case workers are forced to respond to homes and operate in hazardous conditions. Davis said the department has a protocol workers use if there is meth or a meth lab in the home. DFACS workers also have to toil in dangerous conditions, especially when they have resistance from a parent who is strung out on drugs. Davis wants to address potential issues like these. We might have to completely partner with law enforcement to protect our case workers, she said. Case workers are overloaded and logging lots of overtime, and Davis hopes to solve that problem in the near future. Right now, we are needing more staff to handle the increased caseload, Davis said. We have a request in. |
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