I attended a meth presentation in Sterling, Colorado and am interested in hearing more about how your organization plans to meet the needs of the children that are removed from meth homes. I heard that the children were going to be given a new duffel bag, new clothes, etc. How is your organization planning to do that? Do you have funding sources for this? Will all counties across Colorado be included in the distribution of clothing for the children? What are your plans in this area?

The North Metro Task Force has received numerous donations from different sources (citizens, private companies, local businesses, dentist office, governmental employees) within our community for children removed from meth labs. Items including new clothes, toys, stuffed animals, blankets, duffle bags, toothbrushes and tooth paste to name a few.

Colorado Department of Transportation recently donated several items to the Kempe Center Foundation and asked that the items be distributed to the specific drug task force listed on each bag of items. Those items were picked up by the North Metro Task Force and will be distributed to each area specified. Also, when someone calls asking how they can help, we either pick up the items and distribute them if possible or better yet we try to connect them with the task force, police department or social services in their area, so the items can help the kids in their community.

There are several groups who are making handmade blankets for the children in their area. It has been a community effort that has had great success. Everyone is wanting to know what they can do to help, so we are all working together. The Colorado Alliance for Drug Endangered Children is looking into ways to organize these efforts for all the children in the state. If you are wanting to donate items and you have having trouble finding the right person in your community contact one of the executive members of the Colorado Alliance for Drug Endangered Children for assistance. If you need items for the children in your area, contact us and we can post the information on the web site.

What are the Medical Protocols for Children Removed from Meth Labs?

The protocols have been published in both Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat formats.

Frequently Asked Questions #1 - General Clandestine Lab Information.

We've published this FAQ sheet in two formats - Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat (You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Frequently Asked Questions #2 - Medical Evaluation of Children Removed from Clandestine Labs.

We've published this FAQ sheet in two formats - Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat (You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Frequently Asked Questions #3 - How to Care of Children Removed from a Drug Endangered Environment.

We've published this FAQ sheet in two formats - Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat (You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Do you have an estimate of how many children are placed in social services custody as a result of meth labs?

We believe that about 30-35% of the labs that are seized are homes that have children living in them. It is hard to know up until now how many of them overall in Colorado have gone to foster care as before we started this program many were going to neighbors and friends. Now, however, we are recommending that social services be called on ALL of these cases and they are likely to place most of these kids, at least initially, in foster care.