MISSOURI WATCH: SUFFER OUR LITTLE CHILDREN

Paducah. Jonesboro. Gun Control. N.R.A. Brady Law. Hollywood. Clinton. Littleton. Congress. Smith & Wesson.

These and other similar words have taken their place in the American conversation as symbols of our late twentieth century culture. Their images create reminders that something is amiss in our society and that the Great American Dream is subject to horrific interruptions both disturbing and foreboding.

Disturbing because their televised images portray young, innocent children and their families in great distress, pain and even death.

Foreboding because each of us imagines such an event occurring in our own town and admit, perhaps only to ourselves, that a similar tragedy could happen right here where we live.

The first question arising from the ashes of Jonesboro and Littleton is the normal one, mainly what has caused what we pray is an infinitely small number of children to behave in such totally illogical behavior patterns that produce senseless, needless murders of innocent bystanders. As could be expected, the pathology is unfamiliar to us and we search for answers with no reasonable assurance of validation.

So few of us realize, much less recognize, that parental alcohol and drug abuse has produced a population explosion of battered and neglected children, overwhelming our child welfare, counseling and family court systems and shattering the traditional disposition to keep children with their natural families and parents.

From 1986 to 1997, the number of abused and neglected children in America jumped from 1.4 million to 3 million, a 114 percent increase, more than eight times greater than the 14 percent increase in children's total population.

At least seven -- and some professionals say nine -- of 10 cases of child abuse and neglect are caused or exacerbated by alcohol and drug abuse and addiction. Children whose parents abuse alcohol and drugs are almost three times likelier to be abused and more than four times likelier to be neglected.

Alcohol is the prime culprit, and it is interesting to note that virtually none of the prevention remedies now being so assiduously studied by elected officials in Washington and Jefferson City ever mention alcohol as being a component of the overall problem our nation is attempting to address.

Each year 500,000 babies are born prenatally exposed to illicit drugs and usually alcohol and tobacco as well. These children are up to three times likelier to be abused and neglected. Each year 20,000 infants of drug- and alcohol-abusing mothers are abandoned at birth or kept in the hospital for their own protection because no foster care is available.

Caseloads are impossible; caseworkers in some areas are responsible for 50 cases at once, and some judges confront 50 child welfare cases a day. Few of these professionals have been trained to identify substance abuse and addiction, much less know what to do when they spot it. To make the situation even worse: two-thirds of reported cases of child abuse and neglect are never even investigated.

As the need for a greatly improved system has increased the number of U.S. families receiving such help has plummeted from 1.2 million to 500,000 over the past two decades. Most parents who need treatment don't get it, and the care given to those who do is often inappropriate.

For many, the most insidious aspect of substance abuse and addiction is its power to destroy the natural parental instinct to love and care for their children. Eighty-six percent of professionals surveyed cited lack of motivation as the top barrier in getting such parents into treatment.

The worst fact is that even if parental rights are timely terminated when abusive parents refuse treatment, there is no assurance of a safe haven for their children. Only one in four children available for adoption is placed, and children of substance-abusing parents are at the end of the line.

What is the answer, then? Like most complex societal challenges, more than one solution is needed.

For starters, the number of caseworkers and family court judges to deal with drug and alcohol abuse and addiction should be substantially increased. We should provide timely treatment and training to parents. We should increase incentives for foster care and adoption.

The thrifty minded among us may ask if we can afford to do this. In a society that last year spent more money on cosmetic surgery, hairpieces and makeup for men than on child welfare services for children of substance-abusing parents, the answer seems fairly obvious. It seems impossible that no one on the federal or state level has even broached this subject, yet it has far more relevance to why our children are experiencing great difficulty in coping with life and have so little assurance that their needs will be met by a thoughtful and caring adult world.

These suggestions are a far better investment than adding felonies to the criminal code and throwing more parents in prison, as some in Congress and the Clinton administration have suggested. Criminalizing a child welfare system that should be driven by compassion and health care may be responsive to the polls, but it does little to help children of drug- and alcohol-abusing parents. Children need stable and secure homes now to give them a chance for productive -- and safe -- lives in the future.

Until we address these shortcomings, there will be more and more Littletons despite whatever answers our politicians are proposing in efforts to gain voter approval for themselves.

~Jack Stapleton of Kennett is the editor of Missouri News and Editorial Service.