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For Summit County Children Services, revenues are decreasing while caseloads increase in number and complexity amid the growing opiate epidemic.

(Jennifer Conn, cleveland.com)

AKRON, Ohio - Thanks in part to the heroin epidemic, Summit County Children Services last year saw a nearly 50-percent jump in new custody cases.

The number of new custody cases, in which children are removed from their homes, increased from an average of 78 per month in 2015 to 113 per month in 2016. The number of children in custody rose from 601 each month to 687.

All while the agency is struggling to find money to deal with the issue.

"We're really at an all-time low staff, at a time when we're dealing with a kind of crisis in the child protection system," Executive Director Julie Barnes said.

State aid to the agency has decreased from $2.9 million in 2008 to $2 million last year. And cases are more complicated because of opiate addiction, Barnes said.

Ohio ranks fourth in the country for opioid deaths since 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Last year in Summit County, 2,431 overdoses were treated in local emergency rooms.

And emergency responders call children services when children must be removed from the scene of a drug bust or an overdose. Since 2010, the number of children statewide taken into custody has increased about 19 percent, mostly due to opiate addiction, according to the Public Children Services Association of Ohio.

"This is not only a local issue, but a statewide issue, and it requires a statewide response," Barnes said.

In December, Ohio Rep. Greta Johnson wrote a letter to Statehouse Speaker Cliff Rosenberger requesting the creation of a special opiate committee, stating the epidemic "has a systemic and lasting aftermath in our communities, like tremendous strains on our children's services system and the job market."

With monthly average of 1,000 to 1,200 kids, Summit County Children Services manages:

* About 300 children still in their homes

* 200 to 250 children in the custody of a relative or family friend

* About 500 children in the agency's custody in foster care

* About 150 children in permanent custody seeking adoptive services

Custody cases increasing

When Summit County Children Services opens a case plan for a family, it can include family reunification, therapy, parenting classes or other services offered through partnerships with area organizations, said Amy Davidson, deputy executive director of social services.

But sometimes Summit County Juvenile Court wants children removed from their homes and put in the agency's custody for placement in foster care or adoptive homes. As the opiate epidemic has grown, custody cases have increased.

The average number of children in permanent custody grew from 110 children in 2015 to 157 the last year. The result? An urgent need for more foster and adoptive homes, as well as more funding.

Costs increasing, revenues declining

The agency has closed its clothing center, which had been open for decades, to direct money and staff where they were most needed.

"We were doing OK until the custody numbers started to increase the last year or two," Barnes said.

Like many states, Ohio child protective services is a state-supervised system that is county administered. Paying the lowest level in the nation in 2013, Ohio paid 9 cents and the federal government paid 39 cents on every dollar spent on child welfare. Ohio's counties must come up with the additional 52 cents per dollar locally, through dedicated taxes or county government.

In Summit County, a property tax, which will be back on ballots in 2018, provides about 60 percent of the needed funding.

The rest of the agency's income is from federal reimbursement when children in custody are placed in homes. But that doesn't include children who are placed in relatives' homes, about one-third of the kids taken into custody. Placing kids with families they have a relationship with is the agency's first choice.

Between 2014 to 2016, the cost of placement for children in the custody of Summit County Children Services increased 21 percent, from $12.2 million to $14.8 million.

"Money for child care is a huge issue," Barnes said. "It's hard for any family to take on their relative's kids without some financial support."

What's more, the agency needs funding for day-to-day operations, to help staff deal with escalating caseloads and the complexity of working with families with opiate addiction.

"Safety is about being out there. You've got to be in the home and know what's going on and have a relationship with the family if you're going to make sure you're keeping kids safe," she said. "That's the piece we struggle with."

Addiction adds to complexity

Of the 703 intake cases at Summit County Children Services through late 2016, 473 had at least one adult with an identified substance abuse issue. Of those cases:

more than 19 percent of cases were identified as opiate use

more than 51 percent were identified as substance abuse with the drug of choice not known

Children are staying longer in the Children's Services system while their parents go through opiate recovery programs, which may end in relapse. Children born addicted require special treatment and specially equipped foster homes. In cases where kids witness a parent overdosing or dying, special trauma support is necessary.

Caseworkers are affected

Cases shaped by addiction are also tough on caseworkers. To meet mandated requirements for face-to-face meetings, caseworkers first must locate parents, which can be extremely time consuming and sometimes futile.

Caseworkers also suffer secondary trauma dealing with addicted families.

There are also times caseworkers spend months, even years, working with a family, building a relationship, only to have a parent die of an overdose. Then the worker must be part of the team that breaks that news to the children.

"We used to think families with alcohol addiction issues were tough cases, but that's very different than dealing with a family that's addicted to heroin," said Barnes, who was a case manager more than 20 years ago.

"They're very different problems and much more difficult to address and deal with. There's no such thing as a functioning opiate addict."