This is completely off the subject of grandchildren, but it does have something to do with my nieces children. Im so worried about those two boys and Im hoping someone has some suggestions.

My niece is addicted to prescription drugs. She is twice divorced has a 15-year-old son by her first husband (who is also a drug addict) and a 3-year-old son by her second husband (who is an alcoholic). Melanie is hooked on prescription drugs I think mostly uppers. She gets a prescription for the month, but takes the drugs until theyre gone, then she cannot stay awake for the last several days of the month and barely gets out of bed because shes out of pills She does not work because she cant while shes using and lives on the little bit of child support she gets for the two boys. Her mother and best friend tried doing an intervention, but she would not admit that she has a problem she says the drugs are prescription, not street drugs, so there is no problem.

Her oldest son is a very nice boy, especially under the circumstances. Her youngest son is such a doll! Her mother lives about an hour from here. I dont think she would be capable of raising the boys if anything happens to Melanie because she was hit head-on by a drunk driver several years ago and has some permanent disabilities, including some short-term memory loss from brain damage, because of the accident. My brother, Melanies dad, has a degenerative neurological disease and needs care himself, so he is not able to help even if Melanie would ask for it.

My oldest daughter told me that she saw in the on-line court cases that Melanie is being evicted from the 1-bedroom efficiency apartment that shes been living in with both of the boys. She had their electricity and heat shut off last spring because she did not pay the bills and she lived without electricity or heat in the apartment with the kids for a few weeks until she got evicted for also not paying the rent there. I really dont know where they will go now. When she burned down her last apartment with a cigarette, they stayed with her mother who tried to get her into a treatment program, found her a job, etc. She was off the pills for about 3 weeks, but then moved out when she started using them again.

I am so worried about those poor children! I called social services once to report her. That was when she was living without heat or electricity and had just been questioned by the police when they arrested the doctor she had been getting the prescriptions from, but they did nothing to help the kids. I dont know how that poor 3-year-old survives during the day when she sleeps for days. The oldest son takes care of his brother when hes home from school, but there is no one watching him during the school day. Social services did nothing to help the kids, neither of their fathers are any better than the mother, and both grandparents are disabled and unable to take care of them. I really just dont know what to do. Does anyone have any suggestions? Please say some prayers for those boys.