CSB plans to try drug court idea to help families

The board has sought new ways to promote adoption.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Drug abuse is tearing families apart.
And despite the efforts of the staff at the Trumbull County Children Services Board, sometimes the pieces cannot be put back together.
In a report given at a recent CSB meeting, Becky Smeraglia, senior supervisor in the planning and fiscal affairs office, said the number of children being taken into custody overall in recent years has dropped by 14 percent, but the number being taken into permanent custody has increased by 32 percent.
"Drugs are a huge factor in this. The drug problem on almost all of our referrals is just huge," said Marcia Tiger, CSB director.
The agency took 353 children into custody in 2004, compared with 303 in 2006. Those numbers are down, Tiger said, because the agency has redoubled its efforts in recent years to keep children with their parents or find relatives to care for them.
One program that helps is called a "wrap-around," said Marilyn Pape, senior supervisor of the short-term and extended-care department. A wrap-around program wraps services around the entire family, Pape said.
In cases where children are being neglected or abused because of a parent's drug problem, the challenge of keeping children with their parents becomes more difficult, Tiger said.
Drug court
Parents such as these are referred for drug treatment, but the programs are voluntary, and some parents don't follow through on the programs, Tiger said.
With that in mind, Tiger is hoping to borrow an idea from Lorain County called family drug court. In such a program, parents in danger of losing their children are required to report to the court periodically so that staff members can check on their progress. "It improves accountability," Tiger said.
The increasing number of parents with drug problems is reflected in the number of children ordered by a court into the CSB's permanent custody, Tiger said. In 2004, 92 children were ordered into permanent custody, compared with 121 in 2006.
To help find permanent homes for these children, the CSB has created new programs in recent years.
Last year, the board conducted the & quot;Open Your Heart & quot; campaign, in which information about adoption and photographs of children waiting for adoption were displayed around the county.
Updated photographs will be used again this year and will be part of a display at the May 5 free concert by the group "Soul Children" of Chicago at Edward W. Powers Auditorium on Federal Plaza West in Youngstown. The show starts at 6 p.m.
The concert and other events that night will celebrate adoption and promote the need for adoptive families, especially for sibling groups and teens, Tiger said. It will be a joint effort of the Trumbull and Mahoning Children Services boards.