EDITORIAL: Anti-meth lab law would aid hidden children

Wes Husselman, director of the DeKalb County Department of Child Services, estimates that between 30 and 40 percent of his office’s caseload is related to meth.

Austin Hollabaugh, director of the Noble County Department of Child Services, believes Noble County’s percentage is a little higher.

Through March, Noble County ranks No. 2 this year in the number of meth labs — 19 — processed by the Indiana State Police. DeKalb County, with nine meth labs processed by the ISP, ranks 11th.

LaGrange and Steuben counties, with four and seven labs, respectively, through March, are on pace to far exceed their totals from 2014.

Meth’s toll on northeast Indiana communities, on taxpayers and especially on children is staggering. Recently released figures from the Indiana Department of Child Services give a glimpse of the hidden suffering.

In state fiscal year 2013 (July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2013), 14 children died because of substantiated abuse and 35 died because of substantiated neglect. Two of the 35 deaths due to neglect were in Noble County.

In almost every one of the deaths — 98 percent — insufficient income was a major contributing factor. In 43 percent of the cases, substance abuse was involved.

Nearly 70 percent of the time the biological parent and/or the biological parent’s partner was the cause of death.

James Wide, deputy director of communications for the Indiana Department of Child Services, said insufficient income refers to factors such as a single parent working a low-paying job and requiring public assistance, eviction for non-payment or having had a vehicle or other items repossessed.

Mary Beth Bonaventura, director of the Indiana Department of Child Services, said the report is a call for Hoosiers to do better.

“We will continue to collaborate with local child advocates to address the continuing pattern of multiple stress factors that lead to child fatalities, with an increased effort in prevention,” she said in a press release. “As we approach the summer months, it is important to re-emphasize water safety and to never leave a child unattended in a hot car, never.”

Children take a lot of supervision, care and patience — all of which are more likely to be lacking if someone is dealing with multiple stress factors.

Anyone suspecting abuse or neglect should call the Indiana Child Abuse Hotline at 800-800-5556. In SFY 2013, there were 187,465 total reports into the hotline.

We Hoosiers can and must do better for our children. There are no easy solutions, but there is a law that could save both tax dollars and Hoosier lives. As our investigation into “The hidden face of meth” points out today, our legislators are failing to act on a proposal that most law enforcement personnel believe could dramatically reduce the number of meth labs — and meth children — in Indiana.

The state Legislature refuses to make ephedrine — the key ingredient used in the manufacture of methamphetamine — available by prescription only, as it used to be prior to 1976.

We can’t legislate better parents. But we can legislate safer communities.