Opinion ID: 2174697
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Substance Abuse Problems

Text: Mike was born August 12, 1960. His interest in drugs started at age fourteen when he stole morphine tablets from a pharmacy. At about the same time he began smoking marijuana and abusing alcohol. He quit school in the ninth grade. At about age twenty-two, Mike became a self-employed contractor for small house repairs. By age twenty-five he was heavily into cocaine and admitted trying through the years virtually every popular drug except heroin. By age twenty-six he had a bad cocaine habit and, according to him, tried to kick it by using crank intravenously, to which he became addicted. By September 1988 Mike had been hospitalized for chemical dependency three times. The first time was when he was fifteen, the next time was in 1987, and the third time was in September 1988. Pam was born June 2, 1964. A victim of sexual abuse in childhood, she began abusing alcohol and smoking marijuana at age thirteen. She dropped out of high school in tenth grade. Intelligence testing shows she is in the borderline normal range of intelligence. When Pam was seventeen she gave birth to her first child, Chad. By age twenty, she was routinely abusing drugs and alcohol. She was using cocaine and amphetamines by means of inhalation. In 1984 Pam, with her son Chad, began living with Mike. Pam and Mike used cocaine. When that habit got too expensive, Mike introduced Pam to crystal methamphetamines which they took intravenously. This drug usage was to go on for the next four years, even during the time Pam was pregnant with Joshua and Jeremy. During these four years, Mike continued to work in his home repair business. The family moved frequently, living in a series of towns, dwellings, and motels. Pam often took the children to Mike's work sites and sat in the car with them while Mike worked. The couple's relationship during these four years was marred by violence, fighting, destruction of personal belongings, and neglect of the children. During this period Chad was abused by one of his caretakers. The couple came to the attention of the Iowa department of human services in June 1988. The department filed a child in need of assistance (CINA) petition based on a founded abuse report regarding the children. The case was continued on the condition that the couple seek services from the department. The couple did nothing and hid from the department. The following month the department received another founded abuse report regarding the children but could not find the family. In late July the couple began having psychotic delusions manifesting themselves as the devil possessing them. One of these episodes happened while the children were present and involved them. Another happened while the couple was on the highway in their car. Sometime in early August Mike abandoned Pam and took Joshua and Jeremy with him. Pam had to hitchhike to her parents' home. For nine days Mike tried to cope with caring for a toddler and an infant. He finally gave up on August 22 when he took Joshua and Jeremy to the department for voluntary placement in foster care, where they have remained to this day. At this point Mike contacted Pam. The two left Chad with her mother on the pretext that they were going to seek treatment. The two, however, did not seek treatment. Instead they took to the road and continued to use drugs. In September the couple experienced another devil possession episode. This happened while the two were spending a night in the home of Mike's parents. Shortly thereafter, the two were involuntarily committed for substance abuse at the Cherokee Mental Health Institute. Neither one made any progress at this institution because they refused to follow the rules. The institution recommended that Mike's commitment be transferred. Mike simply left on his own. The Cherokee medical records had this notation about Mike: This patient's aftercare plan consists of our recommendation that he go to NCARF [North Central Alcoholism Research Foundation, Inc.] and complete treatment for his drug dependenc[y] there. He does not appear to be appropriate for our treatment program. Prognosis is poor. Eventually, the prison system will have to deal with this young man. Eventually, Mike went to the NCARF facility in Ft. Dodge. He encountered problems there, did not complete his treatment, and left against medical advice. In the meantime, Pam was discharged from Cherokee without successfully completing her treatment either. A psychiatric evaluation report following her discharge noted that Pam believes she is incapable of functioning as an adult. The report describes her as immature and severely dependent with a history of severe drug abuse. In late September a CINA petition in the present proceeding was filed. The other petition that had been filed earlier in a different county was dismissed. Joshua and Jeremy were adjudicated children in need of assistance in October. The following month criminal drug charges were filed against Mike and Pam because of their drug activities in July. In January 1989 Mike and Pam pleaded guilty to the drug charges and were placed on probation. By this time Pam was pregnant with her fourth child. The couple did not appear at the dispositional hearing in December. The department lost track of them until early January 1989. In the January 1989 dispositional order the court placed custody of Joshua and Jeremy with the department, ordered foster care to continue, ordered drug and marital counseling for the parents, and visitation at the discretion of the department. In February Mike and Pam split up. Pam began living with her mother; Mike began living with another woman whom he eventually married and divorced. In March, in another proceeding, the juvenile court removed Chad from Pam's care. In doing so the court noted: The court is struck with this great reversal of the parent-child role. Pam described Chad as her friend.... Pam is still very much a child herself. Chad's natural father eventually obtained custody of the child. Pam was still living with her mother by the time the termination hearing was held in September 1990. During this period Pam gave birth to Kimberly. The foregoing facts demonstrate overwhelmingly that these parents have a severe chronic substance abuse problem. Given the actions of these parents during the period of their drug use, we think it is abundantly clear that these parents constitute a danger not only to themselves but to their children. At the height of their drug use they were completely unable to meet the needs of their children. They recognized this when they voluntarily placed the children with the department.