Substance abuse impacts foster care in county

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

Substance abuse touches all areas of today’s society. Nowhere is its impact more widely felt than in child service programs – particularly foster care.
“Substance abuse has a great impact on Virginia as a whole,” Roger Ramey, director of the Norton City Department of Social Services, stated at a recent legislative meeting in Abingdon. “But Southwest Virginia has been and continues to be especially hard hit by substance abuse. It is estimated that in Virginia alone over $600 million is spent each year to fight substance abuse. Most of the funding goes to our legal system to combat the problem.”
Bland County’s interim social services director, Carol Brunty, is well aware of the substance abuse problem in her region and especially her county. Her department has a case load of 28 children in foster care – the highest number in the state based on the county’s total population of children.
Social services is responsible for the care of children that have been taken away from their parents by the court. When the department can’t place the children with a relative, it puts them into foster care.
The Western region stretches from Montgomery County to Lee County. There are 22 counties and cities in the region including Bland County.
“Norton was number one in the number of foster care children for years,” Brunty said, “but Bland County took over.”
Of the county’s 28 children in care, 16 are under the age of 6, another six are from 7 to 12 years old and six more are in the 13-17 age range.
“We’re seeing more younger children in foster care,” Brunty added. “A high percent of them is very young.”
According to statistics, the Western region has only 7.6 percent of the state population but has 15.4 percent of the state’s total number of children in foster care. The region experienced a 23 percent increase this year while the state showed a decrease of 3 percent.
Ramey noted the region had 949 children in care in 2005 compared to 1,020 in foster care this year – an increase of 71 children. In 2007, he reported, there were 1,051 children in foster care and 1,044 in care in 2008.
The Western region has seven of the top 10 local social service departments in the state with cases of abused and neglected children in age groups 0-17 as per 1,000 children within each county and city population, according to Ramey. The majority of these cases, he said, is related to substance abuse within families.
Brunty agrees. She pointed out that over 70 percent of her cases involve parental substance abuse.
“The number of newborns in the region placed in foster care has risen,” Brunty commented. “There were eight newborns in 2000 placed in care.”
She also pointed out that hospitals are now required to report any mothers testing positive for illegal drugs after giving birth.
“Substance abuse is a real problem throughout the region,” Brunty said.
While the need for more foster care families increases, the number of providers is dwindling. Bland County has 10 foster families.
“We definitely need more foster families,” Brunty said. “We have two or three new families.”
She noted there is required training for all new foster families. A home study is conducted as are a criminal and child protective service background check, according to Brunty.
“We try to keep siblings together if possible,” she added. “We have a group of five together and another with three.”
The cost of caring for children in protective service is costly, too. The majority of expenses of children in one category is paid entirely by federal funds while costs of children under another classification are funded on the average of 19 percent by local-only funds.
Of the county’s local foster care children, 12 receive federal funding and 16 receive local funding.
Anyone interested in the foster care program should call the Bland County Department of Social Services at 688-4111.
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 1-800-655-1406 or .