CAN GET AND THE IMPACT IT HAS ON THEIR KIDS.
>> GO GET YOUR HOMEWORK. >> Reporter: THIS NINE-YEAR-OLD
JUST STARTED LIVING FULL-TIME WITH HIS FATHER STETSON NEAR
SALT LAKE CITY THIS SUMMER. HE MOVED IN WITH HIS FATHER'S
FAMILY AFTER HIS BIOLOGICAL MOTHER LACEY AND STEPFATHER
COLBY WERE ARRESTED. BOTH WERE USING HEROIN.
TELL ME ABOUT FOURTH GRADE. >> IT'S VERY HARD.
>> Reporter: IT IS? >> MATH.
>> Reporter: OVER LEG GOES, HE TOLD ME WHY HE MISSED A LOT OF
SCHOOL LAST YEAR IN THIRD GRADE. YOU MISSED THE BUS SOMETIMES.
>> YEAH. >> Reporter: YEAH.
HOW COME THAT WOULD HAPPEN? >> WELL, BECAUSE I WOKE UP BY
MYSELF, GOT READY BY MYSELF, AND, YEAH.
>> Reporter: HE SAYS HE WOULD OFTEN MAKE DINNER FOR HIS TWO
YOUNGER BROTHERS AND TAKE CARE OF HIS NEWBORN SISTER.
>> ONE TIME AT NIGHT MY FOUR-YEAR-OLD BROTHER WOKE UP
AND STARTED CRYING AND THEN MY LITTLEST BROTHER STARTED -- WOKE
UP, STARTED CRYING TOO. >> Reporter: WHY WERE THEY
CRYING? >> MOM AND DAD WEREN'T THERE.
>> Reporter: SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAD TO TAKE CHARGE SOMETIMES?
>> UH-HUH. >> Reporter: YEAH.
HIS FATHER AND STEP MOM, SAMI, HAD NO IDEA THE BURDEN HAGAN WAS
SHOULDERING. >> HE WOULD SAY HE WAS TIRED.
AND WOULD ALMOST SLEEP ALL THE WAY HERE FROM THEIR HOUSE.
>> Reporter: BUT THEN IN JUNE, AN EMERGENCY PHONE CALL FROM
UTAH'S DIVISION OF CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES, HAGAN'S MOTHER
AND STEPFATHER HAD BEEN ARRESTED FOR STEALING.
AND THEN, ADMITTED TO SOMETHING UNTHINKABLE.
THEY TOLD POLICE THAT WHEN HAGAN'S SISTER WAS BORN LAST
APRIL, THEY KNEW SHE WOULD BE ADDICTED TO HEROIN SINCE HER
MOTHER USED THROUGH THE PREGNANCY.
WHEN THE BABY WAS STILL IN THE WARD, STEP DAD COLBY TOLD POLICE
HE RUBBED OPIOID DRUGS ON THE NEWBORN'S GUMS TO PREVENT HER
FROM GOING INTO WITHDRAWAL AND HAVING SEIZURES.
>> THEY REALIZE THEY COULD KEEP THEIR BABIES FROM HAVING
SYMPTOMS FOR A PERIOD OF TIME, THEY GET DISCHARGED, THEN THEY
MIGHT BYPASS BEING REPORTED. >> Reporter: AND HAVING THE
CHILD TAKEN AWAY. >> AND HAVING THE CHILD TAKEN
AWAY. >> Reporter: THIS DOCTOR HAS
BEEN AT UTAH VALLEY HOSPITAL FOR 38 YEARS.
THERE'S A LITTLE BABY IN HERE RIGHT NOW WHO'S IN WITHDRAWAL?
>> YES. >> Reporter: THE HOSPITAL HAS A
REGIMENT TO CARE FOR NEWBORNS. PARENTS CIRCUMVENTING THE SYSTEM
DON'T. >> THEY PUT THEIR CHILD AT
UNBELIEVABLE RISK TO HAVE SEIZURES AND EVEN DEATH.
>> Reporter: WHEN POLICE DISCOVERED WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO
HAGAN'S NEWBORN SISTER, SAMI AND STETSON TOOK IN THE NEWBORN,
HAGAN, AND HIS TWO BROTHERS, THEY HAD ALL FOUR CHILDREN DRUG
TESTED. WHAT DID THEY FIND?
>> THEY FOUND THAT THE BABY GIRL HAD METH, HEROIN, AND MORPHINE
IN HER SYSTEM. THE TWO-YEAR-OLD BOY AND THE
FOUR-YEAR-OLD BOY HAD METH IN THEIR SYSTEM.
AND THEN OUR NINE-YEAR-OLD SON DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING IN HIS
SYSTEM. >> Reporter: THAT'S GOT TO BE
STUNNING INFORMATION TO TAKE IN. >> IT WAS AWFUL.
>> Reporter: HAGAN'S THREE SIBLINGS HAVE SINCE GONE TO LIVE
WITH THEIR BIOLOGICAL GRANDPARENTS.
HE KNOWS HIS MOM AND STEP DAD ARE IN JAIL.
>> YEAH, I KNOW EVERYTHING. >> Reporter: YOU DO?
>> EVERY SINGLE THING. >> Reporter: CAN YOU TELL ME?
>> UM THAT THEY DID DRUGS. YEAH, THEY GAVE MY LITTLE SISTER
DRUGS. >> Reporter: ARE YOU KIND OF
ANGRY? >> YES.
VERY. >> Reporter: SAMI AND STETSON
TELL HAGAN HAD HE NO LONGER HAS TO BE IN CHARGE.
>> WE'RE THE PARENTS, WE'RE GOING TO COOK DINNER, CHANGE
DIAPERS, AND WE'VE GOT THIS. >> Reporter: THEY SIGNED HIM UP
FOR BOY SCOUTS AND ENCOURAGE HIM TO SPEND TIME WITH FRIENDS.
>> WE'RE HOPING THAT'S SOMETHING YOU KNOW WE CAN SLOWLY GET HIM
INTO AND BEING A KID AGAIN. >> Reporter: NEEDS TO BE A
NINE-YEAR-OLD AGAIN. >> YES.
>> Reporter: IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, THE STEPFATHER PLEADED
GUILTY TO CHILD ABUSE, THE MOTHER'S CASE IS STILL PENDING.
AND OUR SPECIAL SERIES ON THIS ISSUE WILL CONTINUE THIS WEEK
ACROSS ALL