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WEBVTT HE IS 17.>> I DON'T WANT TO BE WITH THEMBECAUSE IT'S TOO NEGATIVE.JOHN: DILLON CROWE, TALKINGABOUT HIS PARENTS.THIS IS DARREN AND APRIL18 YEARS AGO.HE HAS NO MEMORY OF THEM WHENTHEY WERE NOT STRUGGLING WITHDRUGS.IT'S A SUBJECT OF CONSIDERABLESENSITIVITY.>> WELL, MY PARENTS, THEY TOLDME THAT THEY WERE ADDICTS SINCETHEY WERE AROUND SIXTEEN.THEY JUST STARTED OUT LIKE THAT-AND THEY JUST NEVER QUIT.JOHN: HERE THEY ARE A MONTHBEFORE APRIL WAS JAILED ONDRUG-RELATED CHARGES.RELATIVES SAY DARREN WAS REVIVEDBY NARCAN ABOUT THREE WEEKS AGO.>> THEY GET REHAB AND STUFF LIKETHAT, BUT THEY DON'T PUT FORTHTHE EFFORT.THEY JUST COME OUT AND THEY JUSTKEEP PARTYING, DOIN' STUFF LIKETHAT.JOHN: THE YOUTH SPOKE WITH USLAST FRIDAY NIGHT AT A WAYNETOWNSHIP FIRE DEPARTMENT THISFRIDAY, -- FISH FRY, WHERE FORTHE FIRST TIME HE VISITED ASUPPORT GROUP CALLED HOPEWARRIORS.THEY BRIM WITH ENTHUSIASM ABOUTTHAT NAME.>> WE GOT A FEW THAT HAVE BEENCLEAN FOR SEVERAL MONTHS NOW ANDBACK WITH THEIR FAMILIES ANDRAISING THEIR KIDS.>> AND WITH THE WAY THINGS ARETODAY, PEOPLE CANNOT BE ASHAMED.THEY NEED TO SPEAK UP.JOHN: CROWE'S COUSIN ISCURRENTLY HIS GUARDIAN.HE WILL TURN 18 THIS FALL ANDHOPES TO PURSUE A MILITARYCAREER AS A MECHANIC.HE HAS LIMITED CONTACT WITH HISFATHER, NONE WITH HIS MOTHER.AND IF WITH THEIR DRUG OFCHOICE.-- ZERO WITH THEIR DRUG OFCHOICE.>> I WOULDN'T WANT TO.I MEAN, IT'S NOT A GOOD WAY TOLIVE.IT DESTROYS YOUR LIFE, IT HURTSOTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR FAMILY ANDIT'S JUST NOT GOOD.JOHN: STAY STRONG, KEEP

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The hard numbers are hard to come by, but state leaders believe more children in Ohio have been removed from their home the past two years because of parental drug use. There is no official data for 2016. But, the numbers for the calendar year 2015 suggest a problem that is not abating. According the the Public Children Services Association of Ohio, 78 of the state's 88 counties hand-counted the number of minors removed from the home that year, pegging the number at more than 10,000. PCSA reported 5,185 children were taken into supportive care due to a wide range of drug use by parents. The agency counted 2,934 removed because of parental opioid involvement, including heroin. One teen from that growing number is Dillon Crowe, who summed up the situation with his parents by telling us, "I don't want to be with them because it's too negative." Crowe has virtually no memory of his parents when they weren't struggling with drugs. "They told me that they were addicts since they were around 16. They just started out like that and they just never quit," he said. He spoke with us last Friday night at a Wayne Township Fire Department fish fry, where for the first time, he visited a support group called Hope Warriors. They brim with enthusiasm about that name. "We got a few that have been clean for several months now and back with their families and raising their kids," said Lisa Jackson, of Blanchester. Nearby, another woman from the same town was greeting and encouraging those in recovery, including a father who was there with his young daughter. "And with the way things are today, people cannot be ashamed," stated Lisa Haynes. "They need to speak up." Which is what Crowe did while sharing the story of his own upbringing. Court records show his mother, April, is currently in jail on drug-related charges. They also show his father, Darren, was offered treatment in lieu of conviction for heroin and cocaine possession in 2014. Relatives say he was revived by Narcan about three weeks ago when he overdosed with family members present. "They get rehab and stuff like that, but they don't put forth the effort," stated Crowe. "They just come out and they just keep partying, doin' stuff like that." Crowe's cousin is currently his guardian. They live in Greene County, where he is in school. He'll turn 18 this fall, and hopes to pursue a military career as a mechanic. He has limited contact with his father, none with his mother and none with their apparent drug of choice. "I wouldn't want to", he said when asked about whether he could be tempted to experiment witrh drugs. "I mean, it's not a good way to live. It destroys your life, it hurts other people in your family and it's just not good." State numbers indicate an 11% increase in children removed from the home between 2010 and 2016. Of that number more than half are said to be younger than twelve. Just last month, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced a $3.6 million pilot program aimed at helping children who have at least one parent addicted to painkillers, including heroin. It targets 14 counties in southern Ohio.