[T]here has been a significant rise in the number of childhood abuse and neglect cases in Vermont over the past few years, according to the Child in Need of Care or Supervision (CHINS). It is increasingly apparent that the opiate addiction crisis is heavily impacting children and leaving them exposed to dangerous levels of toxic stress. (See companion piece, “Researchers find abuse, neglect cause toxic stress in children”)
Opiate addiction is a “big piece of the neglect problem and a big concern for Vermont,” said Traci Sawyers, an early childhood health expert at Building Bright Futures, an early childhood advocacy organization.
Since 2010, the courts have seen a 62 percent increase in the number of cases of childhood abuse and neglect.
In 2002 there were 12 babies that had been exposed to opiates born at Fletcher-Allen Health Center, by 2012 that number had increased to 136. Substance abuse was cited twice as often as financial stress, which is another leading cause of abuse and neglect of children.
“Substance abuse is a big piece of neglect and toxic stress. Parents with substance abuse issues will have difficulty picking up their babies’ cues,” said Sawyers.
Seventy percent of the cases considered by the Department for Children and Families (DCF) that involved children below the age of 3 were tied to opiate use in the family, according to DCF’s 2014 Child Protection Report.
“Opiate addiction is becoming one of the primary mechanisms through which kids are mistreated and neglected,” said Dr. David Rettew, director of the Pediatric Psychiatric Clinic at UVM’s Medical Center. Because of the nature of addiction, the drug becomes the driving force in an addicted parent’s life. “A lot of these kids are not getting the parental care they need and deserve. Some are abused and some are exposed to situations they should not be in.”
“It is very concerning. How we deal with these families is a huge issue for Vermont,” Sawyers said.
DCF is being overwhelmed by the opiate crisis. “I feel nothing but compassion for DCF,” said Dr. Jim Hudziak, director of the University of Vermont’s Center for Children, Youth and Families.
Hudziak and Rettew would like to see less court time and more treatment for families struggling with drug abuse.
“It would be better to help the parents by treating their drug addiction and teaching them to parent than to send them into the correctional system. It makes more sense to help the whole family,” said Hudziak.
