Ohio State’s College of Social Work announced that it has received a $3 million grant to fight substance abuse in the state.
The grant, which comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will support drug intervention activities in Fairfield and Pickaway counties. Their aim is to reduce child abuse and neglect among families who have substance abuse problems.
As part of the grant, College of Social Work faculty will collaborate with family service agencies to work on three strategies. Those include family drug-treatment court and medication-assisted treatment, peer recovery supporters, and parenting and support for kinship providers.
The goal is to holistically provide supports to families involved in the child welfare system due to substance abuse in order to get parents into treatment and increase permanency and well-being for children.
"The effects of the opioid crisis on children whose parents are misusing or abusing substances have often been overlooked as solutions have primarily focused on reducing overdose deaths," said social work professor Bridget Fresthler in a press release. "This award will provide much-needed financial support for services for these children and families."
Freisthler will work with Katie Maguire-Jack and Susan Yoon on the project.
Officials say that in Pickaway County, all families involved with intervention services were due to opioid misuse. In Fairfield County, 58 percent of all substance-involved cases involved opioids.
The $3 million grant is one of the largest grants ever awarded to the College of Social Work.
