OHIO, USA — The war against the deadly opioid epidemic wages on. It's a fight Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has been leading in the state for years.
"The death rate is down, but it would be much much lower if it was not for fentynal. Fentynal has now replaced heroin," Governor DeWine said.
The opioid crisis is an issue DeWine has been working to tackle since before taking office nearly one year ago.
"We're seeing people; people who cannot be brought back with Naloxone, people who die because Fentynal is mixed into whatever drug they are taking," he said.
DeWine was Ohio's Attorney General when the state sued certain pharmaceutical companies over the opioid crisis, claiming drug makers were responsible for the deadly crisis and that they had lied about the addictiveness of their painkillers.
In 2017, the state had the second-highest rate of opioid overdose deaths in the nation.
"We know it has had a huge impact — the opioid epidemic — on our foster care system. We are bursting at the seams with kids," DeWine said.
IMPACT ON FAMILIES
The drug crisis is directly impacting families. According to a New York Times report, nearly 27,000 children were taken from their homes last year, with addiction being the leading cause of their removal. It's adding to Ohio's overwhelmed system, which is packed with 16,000 foster children — a 30% increase since 2011.
"Some of the most tragic stories I've heard about are from foster parents. I've had foster parents tell me, 'I wanted to adopt the child. The child was placed in my home at three days old. We kept him until he was three. Then they came and got him,'" DeWine said. "(They) took the child away from the only parents he knew, put him back with the natural parent. Six months later, the child was dead. That is just the most heartbreaking thing in the world, and we are seeing that too often."
DeWine said the state's foster care system needs an overhaul, which is why he made funding it one of his top budget priorities during his first year in office. There has been an unprecedented $220 million, two-year increase, nearly doubling state funding for children services agencies like Lucas County Children Services, which has been flooded with foster children.
"It's not the caseworkers fault. They are over-worked. In many cases, they have huge, huge case loads — 50, 60, 70 families and children that they are supposed to be monitoring. So, it's time for a real look at this," DeWine said.
DeWine has signed an executive order forming the Children Services Transformation Advisory Council to review the foster care system and recommend improvements by April.