Officials Take Addicted Mother’s Child

Los Angeles County child welfare authorities have temporarily placed 3-year-old Tamika Triggs in a new home, following a story in The Times on Sunday detailing the neglect she has suffered living with a drug addicted mother.

Social workers located Tamika on Sunday afternoon in Long Beach, where she has been living with her mother, Theodora Triggs, 34, and other heroin and speed addicts.

Sources said the girl has been placed in temporary foster care until a permanent residence, preferably in Long Beach, can be found. Typically, children are removed from their parents when authorities suspect they are in danger or improperly supervised.

Child welfare officials must go before a judge within three days to justify why Tamika was removed. At that time, her mother will be allowed to address the judge, who will decide whether the girl should be returned or remain in foster care.

Should the judge decide that Tamika will remain in a foster home, her mother would have to abide by a plan devised by social workers--probably including drug treatment and parenting courses--to regain custody of the girl.

Child welfare officials dispatched four social workers to find Tamika and several other children after their plights were revealed in the first installment of The Times’ two-part series, Orphans of Addiction.

Sources said Los Angeles officials also planned to work with counterparts in Kern County today to locate youngsters Ashley and Kevin Bryan, who recently moved to Bakersfield with their father, a speed addict and alcoholic.