SAN ANTONIO – After being released last week by authorities in Ohio, a photograph has stunned and angered many who’ve seen it. It shows a couple in an apparent drug stupor passed out in the front seat of a vehicle, with a child in the back seat.
“I was horrified. What was he thinking? How frightened must he (child) have been?” said Diana Ochoa Johnson.
As the chief clinical officer with the Children’s Shelter, Ochoa Johnson oversees services at the Harvey Najim Hope Center, an outpatient mental health clinic for children and families impacted by abuse or neglect.
Ochoa Johnson said the child probably called out to his parents, wondering if they were still alive. She said she also doubted it was the first time the boy had seen them in that condition.
Ochoa Johnson said situations, such as the case in Ohio, can traumatize a child physically and emotionally.
“It affects them in the moment. It affects them years later,” she said. “Research shows it could affect them into adulthood.”
She said thankfully, children are incredibly resilient, so their outcomes will vary.
Still without intervention and treatment, Ochoa Johnson said they’re at higher risk for substance abuse themselves, or of also becoming neglectful and abusive parents.
Ochoa Johnson said the immediate response may involve sleep problems, anger and irritability or becoming withdrawn. She said children are also sometimes unable to talk to anyone about their situation.
“There’s so much shame associated with what’s happening in their home,” she said.
Ochoa Johnson said half of the cases seen at the Children’s Shelter have been exposed to drug abuse.
She also said in Bexar County, 67 percent of the removals done by Child Protective Services are due to neglectful supervision, many involving drug and alcohol abuse.
“Substance abuse is abuse and neglect of children, and it has to be considered that,” she said.
Judge Peter Sakai, who presides over children’s court and family drug court, said as horrid as the image was of that Ohio couple, “That’s really a true reflection of the families in our system, especially here in San Antonio.”
Sakai said each Friday during family drug court, he often gives parents a wake-up call.
“I tell them they have an opportunity to make things right, take personal responsibility and to be held accountable. But they have to be clean and sober,” he said.
Sakai’s office also offers an early intervention program that tailors programs and services to help families in crisis. He said often the best way the community can help is by calling Child Protective Services.
Ochoa Johnson said intervention can help protect children and give them a sense of safety.