This should be a very sobering statistic. More kids are being placed in foster care because of their parent’s drug use.

NPR reports the percentage of drug related foster cases has more than doubled since 2000 – to 36% in 2017. Those children were also more likely to be 5-years-old or younger.

The statistics appear to coincide with the opioid crisis. However, there are also other potential reasons – including policy changes related to increased removal, child welfare officials placing more scrutiny on drug use, or simply an overall increase in drug usage.

One idea to reverse the trend is to tie the foster system with family drug courts.

Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/07/15/741790195/more-kids-are-getting-placed-in-foster-care-because-of-parents-drug-use