The staggering effect - seen & unseen - of the opioid epidemic
This week we were given two stark reminders of just how bad the heroin and opioid scourge is that is afflicting the region – and in fact the entire nation.
But then that’s not something you had to tell Rhea Kelsall and Karen Barnes. The duo – Kelsall hailing from Media and Barnes a Drexel Hill resident – are emblematic of one of the unseen side effects of the opioid epidemic.
Both are grandparents. Both expected at this point in their life to be enjoying a well-earned retirement with their partners.
Instead, both now find themselves raising grandchildren after their own children fell into the ravages of addiction.
They are not alone. A recent study by Family and Community Service of Delaware County estimates that as many as 5 percent of American families consist of a grandparent raising a grandchild, primarily due to addiction or mental illness. According to a 2017 report from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, more than 90,000 Pennsylvania grandparents are responsible for the basic needs of one or more grandchildren under the age of 18. They are caring for approximately 195,000 children, meaning about 7.5 percent of all children in the state.
Barnes and Kelsall know all about the numbers. Before finding each other, they also knew how lonely the struggle can be. Now they’re making it their mission to help and support others in the same predicament.
“No matter how far we’ve come, there’s some type of stigma attached,” Barnes said. “After all we learned and all the public education about the drug epidemic in this country, and some people are still judgmental.”
That is the reason they initially were hesitant to go public with their situation.
Not anymore.
They’re not vowing to be the “squeaky wheels” that so often are needed to bring about change.
They point out the system is not set up to make their task any easier. For instance, they note that if they were foster parents they would get assistance, but since they are instead grandparents, they are for the most part on their own.
“There’s no respite, no financial assistance and no justification from anyone for what we do,” Barnes explained. “We’re the unspoken, unheard of group that struggles day by day.”
They often encounter barriers getting health insurance for their grandchildren, and also have to foot other bills, even everyday items such as signing the kids up for youth sports programs.
They discovered each other when they reached out to what has become a lifeline for those in their situation. Second Time Around Parents is a group run by Family and Community Services. There they can receive help with case management, counseling and therapy groups for both them and their grandchildren. Currently STAP is serving 150 families.
Barnes and Kelsall are pushing for changes in legislation at the state and federal level to help qualified grandparents receive aid.
In order to marshal public support, they are planning a STAP rally on the steps of the Media Courthouse this coming Sunday at 2 p.m.
Then there is the situation that unfolded in Upper Darby this week.
Police say a 16-month-old toddler overdosed after he chewed on some baggies that contained residue of heroin or fentanyl in his family’s home.
The unconscious toddler was rushed by his parents to Delaware County Memorial Hospital, where a doctor administered the overdose-reversing drug Narcan. The child was revived and then transported to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
The father had arrived home to find his girlfriend “passed out on the bed” and their son also on the bed with two empty baggies, according to Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.
Chitwood said the parents, both admitted drug users, gave these accounts, with the mother saying the child apparently got into the trash and found the baggies, while the father admitted to police he had shot himself up with fentanyl the night before and discarded the baggies in the trash.
The parents have now turned themselves in to face charges in the case, and police continue to investigate.
While he lauded the quick action of the father in getting treatment for the child by rushing him to the emergency room, Chitwood also sounded a note of caution.
“I’m all for treating opioid addicts,” the top cop said. “But when children are involved, it’s a different ballgame. We will do whatever the law allows us to do.” How rampant is the problem? Chitwood noted it marked the 484th time in three years that Narcan was used in connection with an overdose in Upper Darby. Of those, 404 lives were saved.
“Narcan is not a treatment. Narcan is a lifesaver,” Chitwood said.
And emblematic of the staggering effect opioids are having on so many of our communities.
Just ask Rhea Kelsall and Karen Barnes.