Boy, I am tough when it comes to childcare. I would not allow ANY children to be cared for by a person active in their addiction, regardless of what I had to do. AND I live by the policy of "do no harm" and I don't involve myself where it is not my business...._but_ when it comes to children and their well being? I am all over that. I am probably not very helpful. I don't know about the clinic, except what goes in there is in the strictest of confidence. They may of placed an anonymous call, and maybe the follow-up work has not been done,...I don't know.

Keep us posted.....maybe someone will have better imput than I...but I DO care:)
EllaBlue

my husband is addicted to methadone and I would never leave him to watch any child they are impaired how can the be on their game if they are loaded with painkillers plus . you pulled your own children out go with yor gut and let someone know whats going on. Trust me if something happens to one of those children you will blame yourself. save yourself some blame and guilt

I attend a clinic and have worked as a childcare center though years before my addiction. I have never broken my phase agreement and I am surprisingly not very forgiving to those who do. One of the posters had it right when she said "what goes on there is in strictest confidence". This is due to the stigma we face as recovering addicts. Nevertheless they can break the confidentiality rules if we prove that we are a danger to ourselves (IE..suicidal) or someone else (IE homicidal). That does not cover potential for neglect or abuse which sounds like the concern you have. If your relative has been in phase 1 for a long time and has had dirty UA's it sounds as if she is not taking her recovery seriously. Clinics differ in their tolerance to following the rules and nationwide conformity is something "Methadone Advocates" are fighting for. My clinic for example will set you back once before they detox you. Following involuntary detox certain steps must be taken before readmission occurs. Knowing UD would mean returning to your previous life is enough to discourage most people from screwing up more than once. If she is still using she could very well be neglecting the children in her care. As far as the clinics duty to report it ...well they would need proof. If she had a "slip" and returned to Methadone the children should be fine. Methadone when taken appropriately and under supervision is perfectly safe and does not have euphoric effects at all. If however she is using Methadone consistently with other narcotics she is endangering herself as well as those children. I would then say you probably need to make an anonymous call to children's welfare. Have you ever dropped in on her at the daycare to see if she is high? I would think parents would notice and say something. My sister and nephew are now addicted and I am on the other side of it for a change. Things are hard on both sides.
Therefore, I understand your frustration with her income going towards drugs in the past but if she is trying to get help then forgiveness is very important and the past is the past. I had a harder time forgiving myself for things I did than others did of forgiving me. Anyway, that is my take. Good luck.

My df ( ex now ) was on a methadone maintainence program for over a year. I think its BULL . He was messed up everyday . And he still had to detox off from it and he said it was harder ,longer and worse than off the street drugs .
He use to act high, nod out etc.
I can't imagine anyone on methadone being in a responsible position of watching children , not even their own , nevermind other peoples children .
I think you should make some anonyomous phone calls to say the least . I wouldn't glet it go either , I would press it until they shut her down .

One way to tell if it is never turned in is these family members will do it there self.
Call the place they are at. This was child abuse they are legally resposible to turn it in. Nothing will probably happen as far as charges etc, but it does need to be reported. If they don't the clinic they are at could be held responsible if anything ever happen to a child if and when they go back.
Also I would like to learn more on this meth clinic, never have heard of a long term care place for meth. I have yelled it from the mountain tops that these 30, 60 90 day programs are a waste and we needed long term care for this, now reading this I find out there is some out there.

Again I revert back to my earlier statement....Methadone when taken appropriately and under supervision is perfectly safe and does not have euphoric effects at all. If someone is "acting high and nodding out" then either they are on way too high a dose or they are using additional narcotics. MMT is life long therapy for those who believe (and I do ) that addiction is 1. A disease and NOT a personality defect 2. As a disease it should be treated as any other disease that requires medication. My doctor told me to think of my addiction as I do my diabetes. I will need medication to control both for life. Just as some do not require meds for diabetes and control it by other mans so can some addicts. So this treatment isn't for everyone but it is the only treatment for some.

I have been on methadone for pain awhile now. My pm doc prescribed it. I don't act high or anything that has been described here. My hubby knows that I am in severe pain without it. At first he was very upset then realized that it helped me. I took 10mg every 8 hrs now 5mg every 8 hrs then reduce more. I'm tested every month that I take it to look for illegal drugs. I pass everytime. I try to deal with as much pain as possible. I can handle some just want that edge. Now, I am having to cut my pain meds out. It isn't going so well. Im having to stop due to severe stomach problems. I do have to say that the quality of my life is somewhat better taking methadone. I would though not take care of little children just because of what could happen. What worries me is that since you know who knows you know and if something happens are you going to be at fault too? It sounds that that person does not need to take care of children. I don't know her so I'm flying blindlly. I feel the way you do but don't have any legal advice. Noone has told me that I act any differentlly other than being able to get out of the bed.

So I am understanding a little more. Methadone is something differnt then meth itself. But it is made of meth ...right????
So does these clinic's help not just with methadone but also meth????

There is a big difference. Actually Methamphetamine and Methadone are two completely different drugs. Methadone clinics treat people addicted to opiates like Heroin, Oxycontin, Vicodin, etc. They provide the medication called methadone. Methadone is a synthetic opioid, used medically as an analgesic and in the treatment of narcotic addiction. More simply it is a legal drug produced by a pharmaceutical company that allows patients addicted to opiates to eliminate withdrawal symptoms and drug cravings. It comes in pills or liquid. I was addicted to oxycodone for 10 yrs. I was prescribed 12 thirty mg. tablets a day near the end. I have not had an oxycodone tablet in a year and I have cancer. I was able to stop without ANY drug withdrawal or cravings thanks to Methadone which is a miracle to me and my family. Unfortunately Methadone will not help those addicted to methamphetamine. Methamphetamine is an illegal drug made from all sorts of dangerous chemicals that has devastating effects on those who use them. I wish there was a pill to help their recovery but they are left with the old fashioned cold turkey detox. Thanks for asking this question though because it is a common misconception that really upsets methadone users because people think we go to a meth house and are getting speed. LOL As if...

Thanks, I understand a little more now. The only time I had really heard much about it is the anna case. ANd the way they all talked it was like a precribtion meth, which I think there is that out there to.
But if I am understanding it right most of the DR.'s are not keeping a close eye on there paitents and they are becoming addict to the methadone instead of the drug they are trying to kick??? They are getting double addtions to their addiction. Or am I understanding it all wrong.
my next question is if there is long term treatments for methadone users why isn't there long term treatents centers for others.
In order to truely help someone we have to stop putting a bandaid on and sending them out. I know they are suppose to go to AA or NA after these 30 day treatments but most of them are not. Why??? Because they are given false hope with htere new found out look but not the tools they need.
I may seem to ramble but I just feel there has to be something to help more then what there is. I have a son that is a meth addict, clean for some time, but it has been back and forth for years. My grand daughter's mom the same thing. I know many many family's that struggle with the same thing.

in cases like my mother who also is on methadone i am a strong supporter. she had a surgery done on her back but it did not help her pain so she was faced with taking 100'S of pain pills every month actually i can not believe how many she was taking or to try the methadone treatment. she was sick of the pills and tried the program. i did her wonder and i have my mom back again. she is also in support groups, and has to see a counselor once a week but she has done great and has phased enough she gets take home for a week at a time. she will be on it the rest of her life and her dose goes up every so often.

nodding out is i think a sign that you have to high of a dose from what my mom told me. they are always testing her to make sure she is were she is supposed to be for her dose mainly because her dose is very high.

now my other famiyl members are a little different. one was kicked off and just recently back on the program and i guess yes at times he wants to try but he has such a addictive personality and for the most part can not stay away from the other stuff for to long. his wife runs the daycare and supports him financially. yes for now she is doing ok. my mom got her to go to the group meeting ect recently, but living with someone who falls off the wagon is hard for her and at times she falls off too.

when i took my kids out of the daycare it was because of "him" not her. maybe she will finally stick with it the way she is supposed too. she never acted high or on anything when i took my kids if anything it was depressed or stressed because of "him". i guess i worry more about "him" then her.

but in all i am a strong supporter of the methadone program, but it is easily abused and those who are not serious do get cut off. at the clinic these 3 family member go to it is not mandatory for them to attend group or anything other than a weekly quick chat with a counselor. i think if the people that are on it are a watched more closely and forced to attend group meetings there would be less cases of abusing it. like i said it has done wonders for my mother who has always been addicted to one thing or another my whole life. i do not worry about my kids being with her at all. she is great with them.

My ex was dosed 155 mg a day . Isn't that alot ? Maybe explains the nodding out and acting "high" ?
I am only relaying what I watched and what he told me.
As I have lived , and heard addicts will lie , and lie to me he did . So probably my experience was confused , between what I watched him act like and what he told me he was on .
Maybe thats why I feel thew ay i do about methadone ?

New Rain,
155mg. sounds high to me but many people say there is no one dose for people and many Methadone advocates say there should not be a limit on the dose. I am leery of that theory because that is telling an addict "The sky is the limit. You tell us when enough is enough"...LOL Now part of the addictive thinking is that esp. in the beginning of TX we don't know how to say...No I'm good, No more for me thanks".. HahA This to me is how clinics end up with people on 200-1000mg (Yes I said 1000mg..there i a clinic somewhere in the US that is prescribing that for a patient). Anyway, the clinic I go to is often chastised because they give no more than 90mg without a Peak n Trough level. This tells the doctor exactly what time the dose peaks and when it tapers off in the blood. They then couple that info with vital sign readings. This way it takes more than the patients word to increase the dose. Also there is a cap of 200mg. the doctor absolutely will not treat anyone at levels any higher. In fact the only patients on a level > 110mg are those who transfer from other clinics. IE our doctor at my clinic won't write for more than that but they take patients from other clinics who were on levels >110mg but not >200mg. Make sense? I am on 85mg. It works fine. I can't see anyone more addicted than I was and I have factors like Hepatitis, liver cancer & cirrhosis which increases your need for larger doses. So I really raise my eyebrows when people are on super high doses. I admire you for admitting why your views on methadone may be skewed. That is probably it. Thanks.

i think my mom is on around 180mg and it is almost double what the others take.....with her when her dose has gone up if she experiances the nodding she call her counselor right away then they do a test to see if it is to high. i think she goes in after a hour or so does a blood test to determine if it is to high.

there have been cases were she was on to low of a dose and she will start craving drinking and other drugs which she want off so she tells her counselor who then will up her dose a little.

from everything i learned it is not just "here is a prescription" you need to be monitored closely to make sure you are where you need to be dose wise or you nod out and are high from to high of a dose or you crave other drugs because you are to low and your tolerance is always changing. people need to be serious about wanting the help and communicate with their counselors weekly.

my mom already told me she will be on this for the rest of her life. it is either this or back to the pills and drinking to cope because she will be in pain the rest of her life. the methadone cures her pain. she still has prescriptions for some pain meds. but when on the right dose she does not even take them.