Foster Care Youth: The Innocent Victims of the Opioid Epidemic

The opioid epidemic has had devastating impacts throughout the nation over the past decade, as the overdose rate increased by almost 800 percent between 2009 and 2018. Ohio has one of the highest overdose rates in the country, with over 5,000 Ohioans overdosing in 2017, a rate of 46 deaths per every 100,000 people.

As a calamitous result, Ohio children are continuously losing parents to opioid misuse, which has resulted in an increasing number of the state’s youth being placed in kinship care or foster care. In turn, this surge of placements has led to many of Ohio’s foster care facilities approaching capacity and having minimal room for additional youth.

To ensure Ohio’s children are on the path to success, law enforcement officials know we need to continue supporting programs and services that enhance the experiences of youth who are placed in foster or kinship care.