This fall, the Department of Child Services made a desperate plea for new foster parents. Two-thousand five-hundred more foster families are needed today than the same time last year to house children who have been removed from the homes of drug-addicted parents.
In August, it was announced that the DCS caseload was up 26 percent over last year due to heroin addiction, which required the state to hire an additional 113 caseworkers. One Marion County Juvenile Court Judge remarked that our children are “drowning in a sea of heroin.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, there are over 7,000 taxpayer-funded beds for drug offenders in Indiana prisons, but only a handful across the entire state for drug treatment. Drug users seeking residential substance abuse care face an 8 to 10 week backlog. Read more...
Blog » Using Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) to Fight Heroin
Using Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) to Fight Heroin
By BRENT KENT Guest Indiana columnist
This fall, the Department of Child Services made a desperate plea for new foster parents. Two-thousand five-hundred more foster families are needed today than the same time last year to house children who have been removed from the homes of drug-addicted parents.
In August, it was announced that the DCS caseload was up 26 percent over last year due to heroin addiction, which required the state to hire an additional 113 caseworkers. One Marion County Juvenile Court Judge remarked that our children are “drowning in a sea of heroin.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, there are over 7,000 taxpayer-funded beds for drug offenders in Indiana prisons, but only a handful across the entire state for drug treatment. Drug users seeking residential substance abuse care face an 8 to 10 week backlog. Read more...