Allen County has been chosen to take part in a new foster care program in response to the opioid crisis.
Allen will be one of eight counties who will gain funding for a new full time position responsible to tracking down family members of children in foster care as well as recruiting new foster parents into the system. The program was created as part of a $1 million dollar grant announced by Attorney General Mike DeWine back in August. The number of children in the Ohio foster care system has jumped almost 3,000 from just four years ago. Executive Director for the Allen County Childrens Services Cyndi Scanland says that the increase is due in large part to drug abuse.
"We are in crisis mode in regard to the number of kids that are entering the foster care system as a result of drug abuse," says Scanland. "The length of time that kids stay in care is increased, is lengthened when they are from homes of opiate abuse."
Scanland says it is time consuming to search for relatives of children, and that creating a dedicated position will speed up the process.
"A position dedicated solely to this type of work with a lower case load certainly would allow more time to be dedicated to the relative search."
The agency will have a 30 day period for the intense search for relatives.
