The drug crisis has cut a wide swath of misery through Indiana, but there is no question who its most heart-wrenching victims are. When adults are addicted to meth, painkillers or heroin, their children often become collateral damage.
Some are born with a drug dependency, called neonatal abstinence syndrome. Others are set adrift because drug-compromised parents are unable to care for them, are imprisoned or suffer a deadly overdose.
Many become part of the foster-care system, straining the resources of the Indiana Department of Child Services and the private agencies it contracts with to find safe homes for children during the recovery process.
In the last two years, the problems of meth and opioid abuse have begun to receive the attention they demand. But there is only dawning recognition of the devastation drugs are wreaking on the lives of Indiana’s children. Last year’s pregnant addicts are giving birth this year. Children who have been growing up in drug-impaired environments may only come to the attention of authorities when they reach school age. It is a problem that will be with us for years even if all drug use stopped this morning.
By every indicator, it’s only getting worse. Last year, a state study of at-risk mothers in several central Indiana hospitals found one in five babies was born addicted. Since 2013, the number of cases handled by the Indiana Department of Child Services has grown dramatically every year. “The need (for foster care) is great because we are seeing more youth coming into our care for various reasons, but one of the core reasons is the obvious increase in substance abuse,” James B. Wide, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Child Services, said in an email Wednesday.
Sharon Pierce, president and CEO of The Villages, the state’s largest private foster-placement organization, said her group noticed the upsurge in June. “I would say maybe about 20 percent a year ago were drug-affected, and now it’s easily 50 percent or 60 percent – about triple,” she said.