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More Ohio Kids In Foster Care Amid Opioid Epidemic
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Child welfare advocates in Ohio say children have become the “invisible victims” of the opioid crisis as more kids are put into foster care and funding for children services agencies falls short.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that Ohio has some 14,000 children in agency custody. That’s a nearly 13 percent increase since the end of 2012.
A recent survey done by the Public Children Services Association of Ohio found that at least half of children taken into custody last year had parents using drugs that were mostly opiates.
The survey also says nearly 94 percent of the state’s 88 county Children Services agencies say heroin and other opiates are a serious problem in their communities. But the agencies haven’t received new money from the state.