In Ohio, half of all children in the foster care system are there because one or both of their parents are addicted to drugs, and the state doesn't have enough foster parents to take care of them all.
More resources are needed for children ravaged by Ohio’s opioid epidemic, dozens of people in charge of programs to help youth told U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers on Thursday.
In Fairfield County, 80 percent of the children in Job and Family Services' protection are there because of a parent's opiate abuse.
The Ohio Attorney General's office is kicking in a combined million dollars in grant money for foster care in ten Ohio counties hardest hit by opioid addiction.
Ohio's top lawman sent out an SOS on Thursday to residents thinking of becoming foster parents - we need you now to take in kids from drug-ravaged families. "There is a growing chasm between the number of available foster families and the increasing number of children who enter the child welfare system because one or both of their parents are drug addicts," Attorney General Mike DeWine said.
The number of kids placed in foster care continues to increase as the opioid crisis worsens in Ohio, but there aren't enough foster care families to meet the need.
With more and more parents battling addiction in Ohio, the number of kids being placed into the child welfare system has increased dramatically. Now, Attorney General Mike DeWine is calling the need for foster families an emergency.
The opioid epidemic has killed thousands of people and torn families apart. School officials and people working in social programs met with elected officials Thursday to figure out how to help the children hurt by the crisis.
As the drug epidemic worsens in Ohio, there are sometimes more kids to place than places to put them.
WTOL
There is an urgent need of foster parents in Ohio and in Lucas County. Hundreds of kids are pouring into children's services due to the opioid epidemic. Ohio's Attorney General planned a news conference for Thursday to encourage Ohioans to become a foster parents.
In the final budget bill signed by the governor, the state legislature allocated $180 million in new money to address the opiate crisis through a multifaceted approach. The four areas of focus that make up the HOPES (Heroin, Opioids, Prevention, Education and Safety) Agenda include prevention, treatment, mental health, and workforce development.
Just before Christmas 2015, child psychiatrist Daniel Nelson noticed an unusual number of suicidal kids in the hospital emergency room.
With a bump in funding from the state, Butler County Children Services may expand a program that reduces the number of children placed in foster care.
The opioid crisis is affecting families across Ohio and on Tuesday, the Attorney General extended a helping hand to those who see firsthand how children are being impacted.
