COLUMBUS – The growing number of children who require foster care as a result of Ohio’s opiate epidemic is putting a strain on the state’s foster-care system.
May is Foster Care Month in Ohio: For more information about becoming a foster parent, call or visit your county public children services agency.
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Officials say, on any given day, there are almost twice as many children in the child system as foster parents available to meet the need.
“We have foster parents that started fostering for maybe one, two children and now they have three and four. And on any given week we have maybe two to three babies coming in because of this drug epidemic,” says Lucas County Children’s Services executive director Robin Reese, whose agency is hoping to recruit 400 parents to handle the increasing number of children who are being removed from homes due to the opiate and heroin problem in the area.
Most children return to their parents or another relative within a year, but sometimes it takes longer.
Foster parents must be at least 21 and able to meet a child’s basic needs. They complete training as part of a home study process and receive ongoing support and training, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.