Meth Grants To Help Kids

A state task force fighting methamphetamine abuse will use $375,000 in new grant money to help children of meth users and fund a program to treat addicts and ease them back into the community.

The Daniels Fund provided $200,000 to the Colorado Alliance for Drug Endangered Children, and $175,000 that will go to a meth treatment pilot program in Delta County.

The Alliance worked closely with the state Methamphetamine Task Force to create a program for communities to use when tackling meth abuse and its effects on children, said Attorney General John Suthers, who chairs the task force.

Children who are removed from homes where meth is used or manufactured need the attention of child welfare services and assessment by medical and mental health professionals, said Lori Moriarty, commander, Thornton Police Department and a vice chair of the task force.

The Alliance will bring together personnel from law enforcement, courts, probation, social services, treatment, mental health and other agencies to work on~ the problem in an integrated way, Moriarty said.

"If we can help those using the drug and also treat the children we can try to break the cycle," of addiction, she said.

The Delta Community Based Methamphetamine Community Based Treatment Project provides treatment but also helps meth users work their way back into the community, said Nicolas Taylor, a licensed psychologist who helped develop the program.

Meth addicts become enmeshed in a world of illegal drugs, and frequently commit crimes in order to pay for their habit.

Getting the community to accept them when they are weaned from the drug isn't easy, Taylor said. "We are dealing with a population of people who are not the most popular members of the community. These are not people you welcome to your kids' soccer game. We have to figure out ways to get them back into the community," Taylor said.

Both programs will serve as models for communities throughout Colorado, and in other states, Suthers said.

The Daniels Fund grants follow a $50,000 grant from the El Pomar Foundation to fund the task force, formed one year ago, for two years.

When the state Legislature set up the State Methamphetamine Task Force last year, "We were told that we should be looking for private funding and government grants," said Suthers

The Denver Post