Oklahoma agency, KU researchers partner to help families torn by substance abuse
BY SILAS ALLEN NewsOK.com
Sunday, December 02, 2012
12/02/12 at 5:34 AM
Researchers from the University of Kansas are partnering with the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to find quicker ways to reunite parents with children who have been removed from the home.
The program is a continuation of work begun in Oklahoma by KU researchers to implement a screening tool that identifies parents who are at risk of substance-abuse disorders. The new program will be funded through a five-year, $3.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Drug and alcohol use is a factor in about 60 percent of cases in which children are placed into foster care, said KU child welfare professor Jody Brook. Because of that level of prevalence, addressing substance-abuse issues in parents could be an effective way of reducing the number of children in the foster care system.
Under the new grant, researchers hope to continue implementing the substance-abuse screening and give state case workers better tools to help families whose children have been removed from the home due to substance abuse.
Click here to read the complete article at NewsOK.com.
Original Print Headline: Program to help families torn by substance abuse
sallen@opubco.com
