BATON ROUGE — Two young children in Baton Rouge tested positive for extremely high levels of methamphetamine in November after their mother was accused of leaving the drug accessible in the home. The Department of Children & Family Services is now seeking to place the children into state custody.
DCFS first began looking into the case in September after receiving a report alleging that the children, ages two and five, were being neglected and had access to methamphetamine inside their home. The report, obtained by UWK, claimed the mother, Jo Lynn Hart, was using meth and leaving bags of the drug “all over the place,” including in the bathroom, within reach of the children.
Hart is a Baton Rouge-area nurse with an active license, according to the Louisiana State Board of Nursing.
Early attempts to contact the mother
A CPS worker attempted to visit Hart’s home shortly after the report came in, but instead received a call from Hart’s attorney. The attorney said Hart would cooperate, acknowledged the allegations and said she was willing to undergo drug screening.
Despite that assurance, the CPS worker reportedly struggled for weeks to reach Hart by phone or in person. Contact was not made until Oct. 19, when the worker finally met Hart and her children at the home. No drugs were found during the visit, and the children appeared healthy, according to the agency’s report.
Hart was then told that she and the children needed to complete drug screenings.
Delays in drug screening
The first drug tests were scheduled for Oct. 28, but Hart told the caseworker she could not complete the screenings that day and asked to reschedule. The appointment was moved to Nov. 4, but according to DCFS, Hart continued to request postponements or simply refused to appear.
The children were eventually tested on Nov. 7, completing their required screenings even as Hart still had not taken hers.
To accommodate her concerns about testing hours and location, the CPS worker located a facility closer to Hart’s home with extended hours. A new appointment was set for Nov. 12, but on Nov. 13, the facility reported that Hart refused to submit to the screening despite telling the caseworker she was on her way.
Children test positive for meth
On Nov. 19, DCFS received the children’s hair-follicle results: both tested positive for methamphetamines and amphetamines.
According to the report, the 5-year-old’s test results showed a level of 1,760 for meth and the 2-year-old had a level of 2,530. These levels are considered dangerous, according to drug enforcement sources.
The next day, Judge Gail Grover of East Baton Rouge Parish Juvenile Court issued a court-ordered safety plan in response to Hart’s repeated refusals to undergo a hair-follicle drug test and the children’s confirmed exposure to meth. Later that same day, Hart’s estranged husband, David Hart, denied allegations that he was using drugs and said he was willing to submit to both hair-follicle and urine testing.
He also provided DCFS with additional information, including an audio recording of Jo Lynn Hart discussing meth in the home, according to the report.
When investigators asked why he knowingly left the children in a home where drugs were present, Mr. Hart said he had been in violation of a restraining order at the time and that he was at the home in an attempt to repair his marriage.
That information was presented to the judge, who vacated the safety plan and granted a verbal hold order, allowing the children to be immediately removed from the home.
‘Unable or unwilling to protect the children’
“The confirmed drug exposure of both children, coupled with the parents’ actions and omissions, supports the finding that the caretakers are unable or unwilling to protect the children, resulting in serious child-safety concerns requiring court intervention,” the DCFS affidavit states.
UWK has reached out to DCFS about the status of the custody of the children. They agency has not yet responded to our request for more information about the investigation.
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