Heroin epidemic taking toll on children, social workers

PITTSBURGH — Across Pennsylvania, there's been an increase in the number of children entering foster care. One of the reasons for that is the opioid epidemic that has plagued the country and Western Pennsylvania. Caseworkers said they see parents overdosing with their kids nearby at least five times a week.

For Nancy, a grandmother in Allegheny County, the opioid crisis and its effect on children hit close to home. Because of addiction, she and her husband are raising their young grandchildren.

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"Sometimes the right thing to do and what you want to do aren't always the same thing. But the right thing to do is to give these kids a chance, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love them to death," said Nancy.

Calls to Allegheny County Children, Youth, and Families are up 20 percent. The assistant deputy director for the agency, Jacki Hoover, said dealing with the opioid crisis is different because the abuse against children is harder to detect.

"When folks are addicted to an opioid substance or prescription pills, really more around neglect, falling asleep, passing out, not really being mindful of where the children are," said Hoover.

Channel 11 has covered a number of stories about children who have been exposed to addicted parents. In February 2017, a 10-year-old witnessed the two people who were supposed to be watching him overdose, and called 911 for help. A mother was arrested in March 2017 after passing out in a car after using heroin in Pittsburgh's Mount Washington neighborhood. Police found an 8-year-old in the passenger seat so scared he threw a needle out the window.

In Sharon, a 5-year-old boy called 911 in March 2017 after his parents overdosed on pills and heroin. And in Penn Hills, police arrested a father accused of selling drugs to detectives, and investigators say they found drugs next to sippy cups, with two children in the home. One of the most shocking stories was in McKeesport, when a 7-year-old went to school and told her teacher her parents wouldn't wake up. Police went to the home and found both of the child's parents dead of heroin overdoses.

"Our staff has been witness to more trauma than they may have in the past, and we've been trying to provide mindfulness training and training on safety," said Hoover.

The Centers for Disease Control reported Pennsylvania saw a 34 percent increase in overdose deaths from 2013 to 2015, and that number is only expected to rise. That means the number of children in need will likely grow as well.

Cox Media Group