Opioid Abuse Emerges As A Major Cause Of Children Entering Foster Care

A new report from a statewide child advocacy group suggests an increasing number of North Carolina children are entering foster care because their parents are abusing drugs like heroin and fentanyl.  

On Wednesday, NC Child released foster care data for the fiscal year ending in 2017, and it paints a difficult picture of the state's opioid problems.

According to the report, more than 16,000 children were in North Carolina's foster care system last year. And of the children entering the system, nearly 40 percent did so at least in part due to parental substance use.

The Triad doesn't appear to have fared any better. In Guilford County, 43 percent of foster children were in the system because of substance abuse. In Forsyth County, it's almost 52 percent.

Like much of the country, North Carolina has been struggling in the fight against opioid abuse.

Between 1999 and 2016, opioid overdose fatalities rose roughly 800 percent statewide.