Nevada receives funding to combat opioid fallout

Child welfare systems across the nation experienced a surge of children removed from their parents’ care in the wake of the opioid crisis. To combat this locally, the Department of Justice awarded $874,097 to Nevada’s Eighth Judicial District Family Treatment Drug Court in October to help fund inpatient and outpatient treatment and housing for recovering addicts.

The grant allots $291,365 a year for 13 residential beds and 13 housing slots with intensive outpatient treatment until September 2021 and will also help enhance wraparound services, enhance treatment for parents and reunite families separated by addiction.

“Every day in court, we see the toll drugs take on families. Parental addiction as a contributing factor for removal of children is a growing issue,” said Judge Frank Sullivan, who presides over the Family Treatment Drug Court. “This much-needed funding gives us the ability to keep families intact as parents get the treatment and services they need to recover and care for their children.”

This story originally appeared in the Las Vegas Weekly.