“The American foster care system is in a state of crisis, strained by a massive influx of children since 2011 fueled by the opioid epidemic and general drug abuse.
Social services in almost every state across the country are experiencing increases in children needing foster care, and officials are nearing a breaking point. Officials report a roughly 45 percent spike in the number of foster children since 2011 in Maine, which had more than 1,800 kids in foster care in 2016. In North Dakota, the number of kids removed from parental custody to foster care jumped 27 percent since 2011, reports The Washington Post.
Officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in 2015 that roughly 428,000 kids were in foster care, and note that number has likely experienced a significant increase due to skyrocketing drug abuse rates in 2016. Opioid dependence is also becoming more prevalent in newborn babies whose parents are addicts.”
Read more at: https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/drug-crisis-pushing-nearly-half-million-kids-foster-care/
Source: TheLibertarianRepublic.com – July 1, 2017
