New law aims to protect children from unhealthy home life I lie nooUCIdlcU rfeSS PORTLAND — Treva Adamson didn't want to sign the piece of pa per that would take away her right to be a mother. She loved her 9-year-old daugh ter, she told the court, and her days of using methamphetamine, stealing, living out of cars and get ting arrested for prostitution were over. But it was too late, the child’s at torney said. Authorities knew Adamson had used her daughter as a lookout for drug deals, and that the girl often got high with the woman’s eldest daughter. Two hours into her trial in Mult nomah County juvenile court, the 42-year-old woman signed an agreement giving up her parental rights and allowing her only an oc casional visit. In the past, a parent with a seri ous drug problem and a criminal history might have won back a child. But a new law passed by the state Legislature this past session is designed to give children some sta bility instead of shuttling them re peatedly from foster homes to their parents. The “Best Interest of the Child” bill was made for parents such as Adamson, says Timothy Travis, a lawyer for the Juvenile Rights Pro ject who cross-examined Adam son. It’s sad to witness the breakup of a family, he said. “There’s nobody I sympathize with more than these parents, except their kids.” The new law, designed to slash the state’s caseload of 5,500 foster children while getting more chil dren into stable homes within a year of the day they go into enter state custody, reflects a fundamen tal change in thinking about foster children, Travis said. From phones to Froot Loops! From CDs to Levis, notebooks to software, bath towels to Great Food...make a list of college essentials, then make one fast, easy stop at Fred Meyer. Open 7 AM to 11PM daily. 5th South 5th East open 7 AM to Midnight. Sandy open 9AM to 10PM. American Fork open 9AM to 10PM Monday through Saturday, 9AM to 9PM Sunday. 12-8 3 1873