Impact of opioids on families, children to highlight state meeting

“Hoosier Children Caught in the Opioid Crisis: Programs, Policy, Progress” will be from 1-3 p.m. on Nov. 20 at the Indiana State Library’s History Reference Room.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The state’s smallest victims of the opioid crisis will have one of the biggest stages during a conference on the challenges they face.

“Hoosier Children Caught in the Opioid Crisis: Programs, Policy, Progress” will be from 1-3 p.m. on Nov. 20 at the Indiana State Library’s History Reference Room (second floor), 315 W. Ohio St. in Indianapolis.

The Center for Families at Purdue University has partnered with the Commission on Improving the Status of Children in Indiana and the Indiana Consortium of Family Organizations for this program. This event is open to the public. To register please visit https://www.purdue.edu/hhs/hdfs/cff/2018-indiana-families/.

Over the past three years, the number of children in Indiana’s foster care system has steadily increased to the highest number in history. In more than half of the cases where children were removed from the home, parents’ substance abuse was a factor – most often involving opioids. Participants can learn about policies and programs being implemented and evaluated in other states and about Indiana Department of Child Services’ progress.

The meeting will feature the research of the following individuals:

* Joseph Ryan, Ph.D., professor of social work, School of Social Work, and faculty associate, Center for Political Studies, ISR at the University of Michigan.

* Martin Hall, Ph.D., associate professor of social work, Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville.

David Reed, deputy director for child welfare services for the Indiana Department of Child Services, will provide a status update of progress for Indiana; and Jim McClelland, executive director of drug prevention, treatment and enforcement for the state of Indiana, will provide a welcome.

Each year, the Indiana Consortium of Family Organizations, led by the Center for Families at Purdue University, provides legislators with an educational session of up-to-date research on a current issue facing families. www.purdue.edu/hhs/hdfs/cff/initiatives/infis/. 

Writer: Matthew Oates, 765-496-2571, oatesw@purdue.edu 

Source: Kate Kester, 765-494-9878, kkester@purdue.edu