CHRIS BURY:

Ashley was charged with child endangerment and spent two weeks in jail. But in a deal with Jackson county's drug court — set up to handle a deluge of opioid cases — ashley's guilty plea is on hold while she follows judge mark musick's orders on treatment over two years.

The costs of compliance are high: every day, Ashley gets a ride to her aunt's house to visit her three kids. Ohio's child protective services — or CPS — placed Ashley's 7-year-old daughter and two boys, 4 and 6, in the custody of Ashley's aunt. CPS pays her 474 dollars a month to help raise the kids.

Foster care for children placed because of their parents' drug addiction — mainly from opioids — costs Ohio 45 million dollars a year.

Ashley's youngest child was born drug dependent; treatment for such children costs Ohio another 130 million dollars a year.