(Columbus, OH) Ohio's opioid crisis is stretching the state's foster care system to the breaking point.
More and more kids are being removed from the homes of their drug-addicted parents statewide-- and child protective services leaders say those children also have more problems because of the trauma they experience living in chaotic, drug-filled households.
Not only do kids need foster care, they increasingly have mental health problems because of what they've faced. Those children are staying longer in the foster care system, because addicts take additional time to kick the opioid habit and it's harder to find extended family members to take them, because so many adults are addicted.
Five Ohio counties are asking voters for more money on Election Day to help with the growing crisis.