07.05.06

Cantwell, Spokane Officials Call for Immediate Help for Children Found at Meth Sites

Cantwell calls on Senate to approve $40 million for children and families impacted by meth

SPOKANE, WA – Wednesday at the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery in Spokane, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) joined Spokane County Sherriff Ozzie Knezovich as well as local health and child welfare officials to call for additional resources to help children affected by meth. Cantwell is pushing for the Senate to take up legislation to provide $40 million annually in new funding for drug prevention and treatment, training, counseling, and parenting skills development.

“We cannot turn our backs on the many children and families harmed by meth,” said Cantwell, co-chair of the U.S. Senate Anti-Meth Caucus. “We’ve fought long and hard to confront this raging epidemic, but we’re still not doing enough to protect the drug’s most vulnerable victims. We must give these kids a fighting chance. ”

Cantwell is calling on Congress to immediately pass the bipartisan Improving Outcomes for Children Affected by Meth Act, which would authorize $40 million annually through 2011 in competitive grants for public and private agencies. In a letter sent Wednesday to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), Cantwell asked that he bring the legislation up for consideration on the Senate floor as soon as possible.

Between 2000 and 2005, meth arrests and seizures affected approximately 15,000 children nationwide. Over the past decade, there has been a 62 percent increase in children going into foster care because of an increase in meth-using parents. Last year, Spokane law enforcement made approximately 75 arrests involving drug endangered children, and referred approximately 125 children to Child Protective Services. In Benton and Franklin Counties, 160 of the 250 kids in foster care are there because their parents use meth.

“Meth addiction not only hurts the individuals abusing the drug, but their entire families,” wrote Cantwell. “First responders see the impact of meth on families and children everyday in hospitals, homes, and raided labs. All across our country, children affected by meth have been abused and neglected. Some have been exposed to toxic chemicals from meth production labs. These children face enormous challenges when their parents are sent to jail. We must do everything we can to help them.”

In addition to helping meth-affected children, Cantwell has also worked tirelessly to increase funding for other anti-meth initiatives. Earlier this year, Cantwell worked with her colleagues to include the Combat Meth Act and other anti-meth measures in legislation to re-authorize the Patriot Act. This new law restricts the sale of products used to produce meth, provides funds to help those affected by meth use, and gives new tools to states, law enforcement, and prosecutors working to combat meth. The legislation also authorizes $99 million for the Meth Hot Spots program, which provides grants to states and communities to clean up meth labs, purchase equipment, and train state and local law enforcement officials to investigate and convict meth offenders. In March, Cantwell worked with Senator Jim Talent (R-MO) to secure the unanimous Senate approval of an amendment to the Senate version of the Fiscal Year 2007 budget resolution to fund this vital program at the authorized level of $99 million during 2007.

Cantwell has sponsored the Arrest Methamphetamine Act to curb meth trafficking across the U.S.-Canadian border into Washington, as well as legislation to investigate the link between meth crimes and other criminal activity such as identity theft. In May, she won Senate approval of legislation to create a national Meth Prevention Week. Currently, Washington state ranks seventh in the country in meth production

[The text of Cantwell’s letter to Senator Frist follows below]

July 5, 2006

Dear Senator Frist:

I urge you to bring the Improving Outcomes for Children Affected by Meth Act of 2006 (S. 3525) to the Senate floor as soon as possible. This legislation, which was sponsored by Senator Grassley, would provide $40 million for grants for regional partnerships to improve collaboration among providers of services for children and families, expand the Mentoring of Children of Prisoners program, and increase funding for Indian Tribes dealing with meth.

Meth addiction not only hurts the individuals abusing the drug, but their entire families. First responders see the impact of meth on families and children everyday in hospitals, homes, and raided labs. All across our country, children affected by meth have been abused and neglected. Some have been exposed to toxic chemicals from meth production labs. These children face enormous challenges when their parents are sent to jail. We must do everything we can to help them.

I hope the full Senate will approve this important legislation to continue to address the meth epidemic that plagues our country. We must act urgently to get much-needed resources to our nation’s families struggling with meth and all the trauma it causes. Please bring this legislation to the Senate floor as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Maria Cantwell
U.S. Senator

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