Strengthening families struggling with the opioid crisis

The opioid crisis has created significant strain on the U.S. child welfare system: 39% of children entering foster care had parental drug abuse reported as a reason for removal in 2017. Child welfare workers report that children increasingly are harmed, exposed to violence, and eventually removed from their homes as a result of substance use. 

Join experts from the CDC, the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare, and ICF as we share results from studies of the opioid epidemic and its effect on child welfare systems and families. What community services might be effective in preventing children’s exposure to violence? How can agencies help prevent family separation and strengthen families struggling with the opioid epidemic?

Topics will include:

• New research that highlights the negative impacts of the epidemic on children and families.
• How to better prevent children from being removed from homes struggling with drug abuse.
• Ways to optimize the Family First Prevention Services Act.