Number of Kids in Foster Care Surges Due to Parental Drug Use

(Associated Press, May 20) The nation’s drug addiction problem continues to have a devastating effect on the children of users and social services.

In 2015, 85,937 children entered the foster care system due to a parent(s) drug abuse, according to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System. Drug use is now the No. 2 cause (behind neglect) for a child being removed from his or her home.

The number of cases where parental drug abuse was a reason for children entering foster care rose from about 22 percent in 2009 to almost 30 percent in 2014.

Foster care numbers overall signal a major reversal in what had been a downward trend just a few years ago. Between 2009 and 2012, there was a 6.5 percent drop in the amount of children in foster care. But during the last four years the number has gone up 7 percent. Read more.