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Parent ODs second time since August
AUSTINTOWN
A 14-year-old girl called 911 after her stepfather overdosed on heroin, according to a township police report.
Police responded just after 6 p.m. Wednesday to the family’s South Yorkshire Boulevard home. The girl told dispatchers her stepfather, James M. Schell Jr., 40, had been drinking alcohol then “passed out.”
The girl’s mother, Rochell C. Schell, 40, confirmed James had overdosed and that she, too, was high.
It took three doses of naloxone for fire and police responders to revive James Schell, who was unresponsive and “barely breathing” when they arrived, the report states.
Rochell Schell later told police they had both snorted $38 worth of heroin in their basement and had recently bought the drugs in Struthers.
Police did not find any drugs in the home Wednesday, according to the report.
James Schell previously overdosed on heroin in August at the home, according to the report.
The two were taken to Mercy Health-Austintown Medical Center, then later to the Mahoning County jail. James and Rochell Schell face a felony count of inducing panic. Rochell Schell also faces misdemeanor counts of endangering children and permitting drug abuse.
Both posted their $6,500 bonds and were released. They’re due back in county area court Monday morning.
Police took custody of the girl Wednesday and informed her full-time guardian. Police said Rochell Schell did not have full custody of her daughter – only visitation rights.
Carolyn Givens, executive director of the Neil Kennedy Recovery Clinic in Youngstown, said “society doesn’t like to hear” how drug addiction can fundamentally alter the brain, overriding parents’ caregiver instincts.
She said even parents facing custody challenges because of drug use often look back and wonder how they ended up there.
“The brain is so impaired. … At that point, they’re not thinking about anything but their next high. They’re trying to figure out: ‘I don’t really want to give up my kids, but I also know I might not give up my drug habit,’” she said.
Mahoning County Children Services has seen a 40 percent increase in the number of children taken into state custody from parental drug abuse within the last three years, said Randy Muth, children services executive director.
He said the agency expects 51 children will have been removed from their homes due to opioid abuse by the end of the year.
Givens said trauma after an overdose can extend to children who witnessed it firsthand.
“As I’ve talked to patients, they become aware quickly once the court gets involved. … Not only do they lose their kids, but they end up doing something from a criminal perspective,” she said. “They’re wondering if they’re going to have a life that’s meaningful again. It’s a constant vicious cycle – from realizing, after you get sober, the trauma you’ve inflicted on your children.”