(This is a copy of the original story on the AJC site.)
Reprinted with the permission of the Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta Constitution.

[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 1.16.2000]

GEORGIA'S FORGOTTEN CHILDREN II

SPECIAL REPORTS Georgia's forgotten children II • Welfare case files show how agency failed to protect • Professionals' abuse reports often discounted • Neglect, an elusive killer, does its work slowly • Drugs play major role in children's deaths Georgia's forgotten children I • Lives and deaths unnoticed • Pam couldn't take care of herself • When workers talked about Kendall's death • Tracking system didn't save Nathan • Octavious died despite complaints • Raymond neglected in life, doctors say Terrell Peterson • Did 5-year-old Terrell have to die? HEADS LIKELY WILL ROLL Hot seat • Rising star of child welfare Ralph Mitchell, is now under fire Fulton was worst • Most files seized by the GBI were from Fulton County Editorial • Prosecuting workers isn't enough GBI SEIZES DFACS FILES Deaths probed • Governor's concern over possible 'criminal activity' 13 children • Sad histories marked by futile attempts • State under fire in 5-year-old's death • Suit wants feds to take over DFACS

By Jane O. Hansen
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

Devonta Lawson died two days after she was born prematurely due to her mother's crack use during pregnancy. She was the woman's second cocaine baby who died because of prematurity.

A third cocaine baby suffered permanent disabilities and was placed in foster care. A fourth child of the woman's died at 2 after her mother failed to get her medical treatment.

The case is not unique. A review of the files of 513 Georgia children who died between 1996 and 1998 after their families were reported to the state for abuse or neglect shows that drugs play a major role in many children's deaths.

Among the children who died, at least a third came from families with a significant history of drug or alcohol abuse. Nearly one in 10 tested positive for drugs at birth.

Many died from neglect by parents who were too busy getting high to tend to the basic needs of their children. Typical among them was the 3-year-old who died when his mother, high on amphetamines and marijuana, put him in a car unrestrained, then wrecked.

A 2-week-old baby died when her drunken parents put her in bed with them and the father rolled on top of the infant and smothered her.

Some children are doomed before they're born.

Between 1996 and 1998, 37 Georgia babies died of AIDS, SIDS, prematurity or other medical complications after being born to mothers who abused alcohol or drugs while pregnant. That drug was usually cocaine, which often prompts premature birth; it is the effects of prematurity, rather than any direct effect from the drug, that pose cocaine's greatest threat to newborns.

Particularly disturbing is the high rate -- nearly 1 in 4 -- of SIDS deaths among those infants in the DFACS files who were born with drugs in their system. That is more than twice the rate found in the general population.

For nearly a decade, policy makers have debated what to do with addicted mothers. Prosecutors argue that their first obligation is to protect children's rights by holding mothers accountable if they harm their babies. Health professionals, however, fear pregnant women won't seek treatment if they are treated as criminals.

When Devonta Lawson died in 1996, District Attorney Charles Ferguson of Terrell County considered charging the baby's mother with manslaughter.

In a letter to Ferguson, DFACS pointed out that Devonta's mother "has given birth to six children. Three are dead due to her drug addiction, two are severely ill and one is [diagnosed with] failure to thrive."

"Certainly I think mothers like this should be prosecuted," Ferguson said recently. "There can be no more innocent a victim than a child who's born with a condition he'll live with for the rest of his life, through no act of his own. We need to get across the consequences."

However, Ferguson never prosecuted Devonta's mother because Georgia courts threw out a similar case. When Darlene Luster's baby was born in 1991 with a positive drug screen, the Cobb County district attorney tried to convict her of illegally distributing cocaine to her unborn chid. But the courts said the law did not extend to a fetus.

Ferguson and other district attorneys in Georgia are now discussing how to draft legislation that would satisfy the courts.

"We have not come up with anything yet," Ferguson said. "But hopefully we can come up with language that would allow prosecution in these cases."

In the meantime, state DFACS officials have begun to recognize the danger that drug-impaired adults pose to newborns and young children. This month, new state policies took effect that impose stricter standards on parents who abuse drugs.

For the first time, caseworkers are to seek a court order requiring treatment for the mother of any drug-exposed newborn. If she resists, they must seek custody of her child. For any other child protection case involving substance abuse, parents are required to undergo two drug tests a month. Positive results could lead to removal of their children.