2A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, AUGUST 14, 2017
Foster care rates rise amid drug addiction
Some unable
to care for their
children
By APRIL EHRLICH
The News-Review
ROSEBURG — When
Natalie Robbins went into
labor two months earlier than
she expected, the doctors said
her baby girl had gone into
shock. Natalie’s eyes welled
and looked to the hospital
ceiling.
“Oh, my God,” she thought
to herself. “I just killed this
child because of my drug
addiction.”
Months earlier, when she
fi rst discovered that she was
pregnant, she knew she would
have to put the baby up for
adoption. Struggling with an
addiction to methamphet-
amine and alcohol, she wasn’t
in a place to care for her three
children, let alone a fourth.
But she didn’t expect her
baby to die.
Michael Sullivan/The News-Review
Natalie Robbins and her daughter Sirenity Mittendorf, 3,
pose their home in Roseburg in July. Drug use is increas-
ing in rural Oregon, particularly with an opioid epidemic
sweeping the nation. As drug arrests, hospitalizations and
overdoses have increased, so has the number of children
entering the foster care system in these communities.
“That was it, that was it,”
she recalled, sitting on a sofa
in her home in Roseburg.
“That was my God shot, my
awakening moment, my low-
est point of everything.”
Then the baby started
breathing and crying, and
Natalie held her on her shoul-
der for a few seconds before
the nurses whisked her away
to an incubator. She weighed
4 pounds, 11 ounces, but she
would survive.
FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
TONIGHT
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
68
54
51
Areas of low clouds
and fog
Areas of low clouds and
fog, then some sun
ALMANAC
New
Salem
51/81
Newport
49/63
Coos Bay
51/68
Full
Aug 29
Sep 5
John Day
50/83
La Grande
45/82
Baker
40/82
Ontario
52/88
Bend
44/81
Burns
40/83
Roseburg
53/85
Medford
54/90
Klamath Falls
44/81
Lakeview
43/82
Ashland
55/89
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017
Tonight's Sky: The last quarter will be at 6:15 p.m.,
seven days to the total solar eclipse on Aug. 21,
2017!
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
TOMORROW'S TIDES
Astoria / Port Docks
Time
1:55 a.m.
1:36 p.m.
Low
0.6 ft.
1.9 ft.
REGIONAL CITIES
City
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Eugene
Ilwaco
Klamath Falls
Medford
Newberg
Newport
North Bend
Hi
77
78
67
76
66
80
86
77
63
67
Today
Lo
40
44
53
48
54
44
54
49
49
51
W
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
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Hi
82
81
68
80
66
81
90
81
63
68
Tues.
Lo
42
47
55
50
57
46
57
51
50
52
W
s
s
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s
pc
s
s
s
pc
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City
Olympia
Pendleton
Portland
Roseburg
Salem
Seaside
Spokane
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Yakima
Hi
73
80
73
82
77
67
76
78
74
82
Today
Lo
47
52
53
53
51
52
52
48
53
50
W
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
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Hi
76
84
77
85
81
68
80
83
79
85
Tues.
Lo
49
55
55
55
53
55
55
51
54
53
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pc
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pc
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Hi
88
81
82
84
89
86
94
63
89
87
85
97
74
89
92
86
88
84
91
88
91
83
72
74
85
Tues.
Lo
74
67
68
56
71
64
73
47
77
70
71
76
63
76
80
74
78
68
74
70
73
63
59
54
73
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
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Stranger care
Natalie never wanted her
children to go into “stranger
care,” a name she and other
birth parents have given the
foster care system. She is
thankful her children stayed in
the family, but many drug-ad-
dicted parents face different
outcomes.
Drug use is increasing in
rural Oregon, particularly with
an opioid epidemic sweep-
ing the nation. As drug arrests,
hospitalizations and over-
doses have increased, so has
the number of children enter-
ing the foster care system in
these communities. The num-
ber of children who have
entered the child welfare sys-
tem in Douglas County alone
has increased from 41 children
in 2013 to 204 children so far
this year. That’s a 398 percent
increase in less than fi ve years,
according to data released this
year from the Department of
Human Services.
For Lisa Hubbard, the clin-
ical director at Adapt, parental
drug addiction “has everything
to do with it.”
Adapt is a Roseburg-based
nonprofi t that provides an
array of treatment, housing
and medical services, includ-
ing Crossroads.
“We went from about 400
kids in (foster care) a year or
so ago, which was a shocking
number at that time, and now
the number is over 500,” Hub-
bard said. “For a community
our size, that’s just a stagger-
ing number.”
As of July 20, there were
624 Douglas County chil-
dren in the foster care system,
according to state data. And
that number continues to grow.
The result is a system
fl ooded with children with no
place to go. Sometimes state
workers have resorted to plac-
ing children in hotel rooms or
in their own offi ces, a practice
that led to a lawsuit this year.
Many children venturing
through the foster care system
do it with very little guidance.
Some are lucky enough to have
a court-appointed special advo-
cate, a CASA volunteer who
monitors a child and advocates
for them in court. Now, instead
of assigning one case to each
volunteer, the organization
assigns multiple cases.
“Our advocates are really
stretching themselves to the
maximum to cover as many
children as possible,” said
Richelle Bryant, the executive
director of the Roseburg-based
CASA offi ce. “It really is a cri-
sis now.”
Children of drug
addiction
A baby is born with an opi-
oid addiction in the U.S. about
every half hour, according to
the National Institute of Drug
Abuse.
Those babies remain in
the hospital for several days
as they endure the same
painful withdrawals grown
adults experience after they
quit using opioids. Locally,
drug-addicted
newborns
stay at Mercy Medical Cen-
ter in Roseburg until they are
healthy enough to be trans-
ferred to a foster home.
It’s still too early to tell
how opiate addiction will
affect infants’ development,
although some studies sug-
gest they have a higher risk
of neurological dysfunction.
As for children who are
under the custody of drug-ad-
dicted parents, they are likely
to experience neglect, and in
some cases, abuse.
“The child wanders out
into a busy street, or the
river, or they are not getting
enough food,” said Kather-
ine Elisar, program director
at CASA of Douglas County.
“Neglect is the real key when
methamphetamine or heroin
is happening with both par-
ents. Then, sometimes other
stressors create anger. So we
have a lot of domestic vio-
lence involved with these
cases.”
Children of drug-addicted
parents have a more direct
access to those drugs and can
start using those drugs them-
selves. Lt. Pat Moore, a for-
mer commander with the
local narcotics team, recalled
a case where the team found
a 17-year-old girl who over-
dosed on her mother’s fen-
tanyl patches, which are a
type of opioid prescribed for
pain relief.
“When we did the autopsy
and got her clothing off,
we could see the number
of patches she had, plus we
could see the residual,” he
recalled in May. “It looked
like she had duct tape on her
arms.”
Pavement crack sealing project on tap
The Daily Astorian
W
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TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Hi Lo
90 74
80 67
83 66
90 58
87 68
84 65
94 75
61 51
89 76
84 67
85 69
103 78
78 65
83 74
92 80
81 71
90 77
84 70
84 71
86 70
88 71
86 64
69 59
72 53
83 73
Prineville
40/83
Lebanon
49/83
Brookings
51/69
UNDER THE SKY
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Denver
Des Moines
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Honolulu
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Memphis
Miami
Nashville
New Orleans
New York
Oklahoma City
Philadelphia
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Francisco
Seattle
Washington, DC
Mostly cloudy
Pendleton
52/84
The Dalles
55/84
Portland
53/77
Eugene
48/80
First
Aug 21
High
6.0 ft.
8.2 ft.
Clouds to start, then
sunshine returns
Tillamook
48/69
Sunset tonight ........................... 8:26 p.m.
Sunrise Tuesday .......................... 6:15 a.m.
Moonrise today .................................. none
Moonset today ........................... 1:49 p.m.
Time
8:07 a.m.
7:54 p.m.
Areas of low clouds and
fog, then some sun
67
54
Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs.
ASTORIA
51/68
SUN AND MOON
Aug 14
FRIDAY
67
54
REGIONAL WEATHER
Astoria through Sunday.
Temperatures
High/low ....................................... 68°/55°
Normal high/low ........................... 69°/53°
Record high ............................ 90° in 1942
Record low ............................. 45° in 1955
Precipitation
Sunday ............................................. 0.25"
Month to date ................................... 0.42"
Normal month to date ....................... 0.35"
Year to date .................................... 50.09"
Normal year to date ........................ 37.29"
Last
THURSDAY
68
55
Natalie was discharged
from the hospital two days
later. She went straight to
Crossroads, a transitional
housing program for drug-ad-
dicted people and their chil-
dren. She got a bed, and later,
brought her baby, Sirenity. She
started on a path to get her
other three children back, who
were under her mother’s care
as decreed by the state Depart-
ment of Human Services.
That was all three years
ago. She has since earned her
associates degree at Umpqua
Community College and has
been accepted into Oregon
State University, where she
plans to study counseling. She
has been sober since she left
Crossroads and plans to use
her education to help people
who are trying to do the same.
Ask Sirenity how old she
is and she will shyly hold
up three fi ngers. She dances
around the wood fl oors of their
large home in a frilly dress that
she insists on wearing almost
every day. Photos of Natalie’s
other daughters are framed
along the hallway that leads to
their rooms.
A contractor for Astoria is
crack sealing pavement start-
ing Wednesday and continuing
through Friday .
Temporary road clo-
sures and delays should be
expected across the city.
For questions, call the Asto-
ria Engineering Division at
503-338-5173.
10 p.m.: 7-1-8-7
Friday’s Pick 4:
1 p.m.: 5-3-6-7
4 p.m.: 6-4-6-4
7 p.m.: 9-0-0-0
10 p.m.: 4-5-6-0
Friday’s Mega Millions: 23-33-
53-56-58, Mega Ball: 6
Estimated jackpot: $15 million
Saturday’s Daily Game: 8-0-5
Saturday’s Hit 5: 04-18-21-31-36
Estimated jackpot: $100,000
Saturday’s Keno: 04-05-06-09-
20-22-33-36-44-50-51-61-67-
69-70-71-72-73-75-76
Saturday’s Lotto: 03-12-14-31-
43-45
Estimated jackpot: $1.3 million
Saturday’s Match 4: 04-05-
11-21
Friday’s Daily Game: 2-9-3
Friday’s Keno: 04-06-07-18-33-
37-46-48-49-51-59-61-62-63-
64-67-69-70-75-77
Friday’s Match 4: 02-04-05-16
LOTTERIES
OREGON
Sunday’s Pick 4:
1 p.m.: 4-1-6-0
4 p.m.: 3-9-2-5
7 p.m.: 7-1-1-0
10 p.m.: 9-2-2-4
Saturday’s Megabucks: 2-6-
10-15-40-42
Estimated jackpot: $5.9 million
Saturday’s Powerball: 20-24-
26-35-49, Powerball: 19
Estimated jackpot: $430 million
Saturday’s Pick 4:
1 p.m.: 5-6-5-1
4 p.m.: 1-5-9-6
7 p.m.: 3-7-5-8
WASHINGTON
Sunday’s Daily Game: 1-6-2
Sunday’s Keno: 01-05-16-25-
32-33-35-36-37-39-43-44-47-
53-55-56-59-65-78-80
Sunday’s Match 4: 06-09-10-19
DEATHS
Aug. 13, 2017
GOODENBERGER, John Longstaff,
93, of Portland, died in Portland. Caldwell’s
Luce-Layton Mortuary of Astoria is in charge of
the arrangements.
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy,
sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries,
sn-snow, i-ice.
K lem p Fam ily D en tistry...
W e h elp keep fam ilies sm ilin g!
K lem p Fa m ily D en tistry o ffers
Th e Pla n m eca Pro M a x 3D X -Ra y
Th is 3-D im a gin g m a ch in e
Tells th e w h ole story
• A complete, highly detailed image of
PUBLIC MEETINGS
MONDAY
Astoria Library Board, 5:30
p.m., Library Flag Room 450
10th St.
Youngs River Lewis & Clark Wa-
ter District Board, 6 p.m., 34583
U.S. Highway 101 Business.
Cannon Beach Rural Fire
Department Board, 6 p.m.,
Fire-Rescue Main Station, 188
Sunset Ave.
your oral health in a low dose radiation
image.
CORRECTIONS
• Aids in ideal implant planning and
placement.
Incorrect date — The
Astoria City Council on Sept.
5 will hear an appeal of a Plan-
ning Commission decision to
allow a permit for Shooting
Stars Child Development Cen-
• Diagnostics and airway management
Aug. 12, 2017
DOWNS, Juanita J., 82, of Warrenton, died
in Tualatin. Hughes-Ransom Mortuary & Cre-
matory of Astoria/Seaside is in charge of the
arrangements.
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
TUESDAY
Cannon Beach Public Works
Committee, 9 a.m., City Hall,
163 E. Gower St.
Clatsop County Human
Services Advisory Council, 4
to 5:30 p.m., 800 Exchange St.,
Room 430.
Astoria Historic Landmarks
Commission, 5:15 p.m., City
Hall, 1095 Duane St.
Warrenton-Hammond School
Board, 7 p.m., Warrenton High
School library, 1700 S. Main
Ave.
Shoreline Sanitary District
Board, 7 p.m., Gearhart Hertig
Station, 33496 West Lake Lane,
Warrenton.
ter near the Port of Astoria. A
1A story Friday incorrectly
listed the date as Sept. 25.
Address wrong — The
address given for the Angels
for Sara Sanctuary fundraiser/
bake sale in the In One Ear col-
umn on 1B Friday was wrong.
The event takes place from 9
a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Sat-
urday at 60 S. Main Ave. in
Warrenton.
for DNA & Apnea sufferers.
C o m e and see h o w
com forta b le
d en tistry
can really b e...
• Reduces the time of X-rays by 50%
and the dosage of radiation by 1/5.
• Extra oral imaging for patients that
typically gag or struggle with x-rays.
KLEMP F A MILY D ENTISTRY
1006 West Marine Drive, Astoria
(503) 468-0116
www.klempfamilydentistry.com
The Daily Astorian
Established July 1, 1873
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