Ohio among states with most children going into foster care because of parental drug abuse

Ohio was among five states with the biggest jumps in the rate of children entering foster care due to parental drug abuse, according to a new analysis of federal foster care data for fiscal 2017 (Source: “Increasing number of Ohio children going to foster care because of parental drug abuse,” Akron Beacon Journal, Feb. 27, 2019).

According to analysis by Child Trends, a national research group that focuses on children and families, more than a third of the 268,212 children under 18 who were removed from their families across the U.S. in that fiscal year had parental drug abuse listed as a reason.

The federal fiscal year 2017 was from Oct. 1, 2016, to Sept. 30, 2017.

Researchers found that the overall rate of kids going into foster care because of adults’ drug abuse had increased nationwide in fiscal 2017 for the sixth consecutive year, to 131 per 100,000 children. That was a jump of about 5 percent over fiscal 2016 and 53 percent higher than in 2007.

Wyoming, New York, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Ohio had the largest year-to-year increases, with Ohio’s rate up 29 percent, or 3,519 children.