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Residential workers feel unable to end youth substance abuse Chroming by children living in state care is an epidemic that care workers say they are powerless to control. Department of Human Services-funded workers say children in their care have too many rights, and that staff have too few powers. “Kids can sit there chroming in front of you and you can't stop them, says James”, a care worker with an agency funded by the DHS. “Chroming is epidemic among these kids. Some of these kids chrome like five and 10 cans a day.” James, who does not want to be identified due to fear of reprisals, says many children in residential units become contaminated with bad habits. “The good kids pick up bad habits, but the bad kids never pick up good habits. We churn out criminals, drug addicts and sex workers.” Another worker with a DHS-funded agency, “Steve”, says chroming is a problem at most residential units. “The reason it's become an epidemic is because it's so cheap. In fact, it costs them nothing because most of the time they steal (the cans).” Advertisement Advertisement About 400 children, who are among the most vulnerable and abused in the state, live in residential units operated by about 20 welfare service providers and funded by the DHS. Youth Substance Abuse Service executive director David Murray denies there is an epidemic of chroming in residential units. He says chroming levels were “steady” but could not verify this as no figures were collected. Gill Callister, executive director of community care with the DHS, also rejects talk of an epidemic and says, “We are in the strongest position we have ever been in to stop it.” DHS had guidelines that required staff to confiscate drugs; at the beginning of this month police got powers to detain teenagers who chromed; there were drug and alcohol workers in residential care facilities; and retailers had been sent kits on how to display and sell chrome-based paints. “. . . the kids in our care do often put themselves at extreme risk,” Ms Callister says. “That is one of the consequences of the sort of abuse that they have suffered. The priority is obviously to stop young people chroming and stop the damage it causes to them.” A state parliamentary report in 2002 found 44 people, most under 18, had died in the past 10 years after chroming, which involves sniffing paint, glue or other inhalants. The report found chroming was the most common form of drug use among children and teenagers, with 24 per cent of students trying it at least once. About 250 products available in supermarkets, newsagents and hardware stores contained intoxicating inhalable substances. In 2002 then community services minister Christine Campbell lost her job after it was revealed that workers at Government-funded Berry Street Victoria supervised some children when they chromed in the backyards of the agency's units. Despite DHS guidelines that allow carers to ask young people to hand over inhalants, Steve believes staff have too few powers. “As a father you can lay rules down, but as a carer the children have more rights. As a father your children have rights but in normal, stable homes they're not as aware of their rights and they don't challenge it. Whereas children in care challenge almost everything.” James says residential staff can administer what are known as “consequences” to children who do not obey rules. These include removing treats like pocket money or phone call privileges. This works with some children, but not all. “With some kids, if you've taken their pocket money, their lifts (transport) off them, their phone calls, they've got nothing left to lose.” Steve and James say it is worth considering placing drug-using children in remote rural settings, away from dealers and old networks.
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