Research Study: Drug Addiction Is Sending More Children To Foster Care

How Drug Addiction Has Affected The Foster Care System

On July 15, the academic journal JAMA Pediatrics published a study that examines how drug abuse and the opioid epidemic have strained the foster care system in the United States. The researchers obtained their data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System, a federal government information project. Almost 5 million children entered foster care between 2000 and 2017. There are many reasons why the authorities take children away from their parents, including neglect and child abuse. Drug addiction, especially addiction to opioids, is becoming an increasingly common reason parents are losing custody of their children. According to the study, 1,162,668 children entered the foster care system between 2000 and 2017 because of their parents’ drug addiction.

In many cases, state or local authorities determined that the parents were too addicted to drugs to adequately care for their children. Additionally, in other cases, the parents sometimes died from drug overdoses or went to prison for using or selling illegal drugs. In all of these situations, if the parents lacked relatives who could care for their children, their children entered the custody of the state.

As of 2020, the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System found that parental drug abuse was a associated with out-of-home placement for 35% of children entering foster care and parental alcohol abuse was a circumstance for 6% of children entering foster care. While these numbers are striking, it is assumed that these data are an undercount, with studies finding that up to 90% of child welfare cases involve families affected by substance use disorders.   

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What Are The Solutions To This Problem?

Since the study has been published, numerous commentators have begun to suggest ways to resolve the challenges of caring for children who lose their parents to opioids and other drugs. Angelica Meinhofer, one of the researchers for the study, stated that she hopes her findings will help the children who are so often the forgotten victims of drug abuse.

A lot of the work out there has focused on mortality and overdoses and how it affects adults. [It’s] less known how the epidemic might spill over to children. And that’s something I’m trying to shed light on.”

Addiction experts and social workers have recommended that state and local governments set up drug courts and sponsor treatment programs for addicted parents. These would provide them the opportunity to recover from addiction and raise their children. April Dirks, a social worker from Iowa, said in response to the study that “the foster care system is overburdened — there’s not enough families, not enough services,” and that children suffer trauma when they lose their parents. For this reason, there should be greater effort to keep families together and care for loved ones throughout treatment. Children sometimes enter the foster care system temporarily and then reunite with their parents once they overcome substance abuse.

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction and considering treatment, contact a treatment provider today to learn more about the many rehab centers which are committed to helping people achieve long-lasting recovery.