When it comes to the nation’s opioid crisis, substance abuse affects more than the addict. More and more children are entering the foster care system every year at an unprecedented rate.
How is the opioid crisis affecting them around the country and here in Connecticut? Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.
Plus we check back in with ProPublica reporter Nina Martin, who has been investigating why America has a high maternal mortality rate. Her story looks at a new study that finds U.S states which allow midwives to play a bigger part in healthcare systems have better health outcomes for mothers and babies.
GUESTS:
- Sherry Lachman - Founder and Executive Director of Foster America
- Elizabeth Duryea - Department of Children and Families Chief of Staff and principal lead in launching DCF’s new Family Stability Program
- Karen Hanson - Director of the Family-Based Recovery Services Program at the Yale Child Study Center
- Heidi Veltheim- Family-Based Recovery senior clinician
- Nina Martin - Covers gender and sexuality for ProPublica (@ByNinaMartin)
READING LIST:
NPR: Number Of American Children In Foster Care Increases For 4th Consecutive Year - "A new government report says the number of children in the U.S. foster care system has increased for the fourth year in a row, due largely to an uptick in substance abuse by parents."
ProPublica: A Larger Role for Midwives Could Improve Deficient U.S. Care for Mothers and Babies - "Shortages of maternity care have reached critical levels: Nearly half of U.S. counties don’t have a single practicing obstetrician-gynecologist, and in rural areas, the number of hospitals offering obstetric services has fallen more than 16 percent since 2004. Nevertheless, thanks in part to opposition from doctors and hospitals, midwives are far less prevalent in the U.S. than in other affluent countries, attending around 10 percent of births, and the extent to which they can legally participate in patient care varies widely from one state to the next."
Chion Wolf contributed to this show. Portions of this show originally aired on January 12 and February 26, 2018.
