With thousands of kids ending up in foster care because of the opioid crisis, the state is trying a new pilot program to help children of addicted parents.
Attorney General Mike DeWine says what’s being called the START program will begin in 12 southern Ohio counties, which have some of the highest levels of abuse in the state.
“Ohio START is an intervention program, an intervention program that will provide specialized victim services such as intensive trauma counseling to children that have suffered victimization due to intensive drug use. The program will also provide drug treatment to parents referred to the program. The goal is to help programs fight their addiction in an effort to reduce the number of kids in foster care and reduce the number of kids in foster care and decrease the reoccurrence of child maltreatment.”
The two-year pilot program, which begins on April 1st, will be funded through a three and a half million dollar grant from the state’s crime victim fund.