Monroe County officials: Drugs increase child services cases

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - Monroe County officials said drug addiction has driven the rise of child abuse and neglect cases in the area.

There were 280 cases in Monroe County involving 430 children in need of services. That's the largest caseload within the department's Region 13, the Herald-Times (http://bit.ly/2gdBKqE) reported.

Monroe County Court Appointed Special Advocates executive director Kristin Bishay said there isn't data to illustrate the cause behind the case increase, but she believes there is a connection to drug abuse.

She said about 95 percent of the cases her program handles have to do with addiction issues. Some parents use money on drugs instead of food, leave kids with people who could harm them or openly do drugs with strangers in front of children.

"If there were no addiction issues, these kids will not be in the system," Bishay said.

Monroe County Department of Child Services Director Elizabeth Bullock said Indiana has a severe opioid epidemic that has hit Monroe County hard.

"The reality right now is to a large extent we've got a lot of people using heroin and methamphetamine who are not capable of caring for their children when they are using drugs," Monroe Circuit Court Judge Stephen Galvin said. "That is not the sole reason we become involved, but that certainly, I would say, accounts for the increase in the number of cases. And this is a huge increase."

Once a child is in the system, they are connected with a special advocate volunteer. The advocate will be the voice of the child as a determination is made on whether to terminate or retain parental rights.

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Information from: The Herald Times, http://www.heraldtimesonline.com