More young children are being exposed to dangerous drugs, being victimized by Internet predators and watching domestic violence unfold in their homes, which means Utah's Children's Justice Centers are straining under increased caseloads that are also reshaping their original mission.

Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, wants to provide some relief to the 15 centers by proposing a $200,000 incremental increase in funding and by officially "expanding" services to all children who have been victimized by a crime.

Buttars' bill, SB15, will be introduced in the 2005 legislative session, which begins Jan. 17.

"I will be pushing for it very hard," he said.

Set up more than a decade ago, Children's Justice Centers provide a cozy homelike atmosphere for police to question children who have been physically or sexually abused. Previously, interviews often took place in the often-stark environments of a police station or a patrol car.

Beyond interviews, the centers link victims to a variety of social services and in some instances provide medical exams.

While established specifically to provide services for victims of physical and sexual abuse, the centers have seen more and more traumatized children coming through their doors as the result of methamphetamine use.

"These children are being served already at the centers, but they don't have the funding to handle it," Buttars said. "They can't turn a child away, but they don't have the resources to properly deal with the effects of this ugly crime."

Susanne Mitchell, director of Salt Lake County's Children's Justice Center, said a statewide review showed that on average, 22 percent of children being served are there because of exposure to drug-using relatives, Internet victimization or domestic violence.

"The world is changing, and we need to respond to it," she said. "We also need the funding to keep our heads above water."

Some centers have experienced dramatic increases in their caseloads. Particularly in rural areas, the impact is keenly felt because of small budgets.

"Child endangerment in our rural areas has become a real issue," said Tracey Tabet, program administrator for the Children's Justice Center program. "In Carbon County their case load has increased by 50 percent as the result of drug cases. We want to be able to serve every child in every community."

Mitchell said the meth problem is skyrocketing, adding that typical meth-using women are of child-bearing age.

"When they become addicted, children are not given regular meals, there are strangers coming in and out of the home to buy or sell the drug and the adults are so high they don't supervise the situation. These kids are often exposed to strangers who violate them," she said.

Buttars said a relatively new child endangerment law on the books has given law enforcement the tools to respond to the escalating problem of meth use, and he'd like Children's Justice Center programs to be similarly prepared with enough resources.

"The people who do these meth labs have little regard for children, even their own," he said. "On one burner they are cooking meth, and on the other burner they have eggs going for the kids. It is very real, and it is very ugly."

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