Editor’s Note: A CSEA member working in the Unified Court System said she’s seen the impact increased heroin abuse has had on vulnerable children and the caseworkers who come to family court. The Work Force is not identifying the member because of a fear of retaliation and unfair blame, but she detailed what too many CPS workers and court employees face every day:
“We see parents who go to rehab two, three, four times and still can’t kick heroin. As a result, you see the same family staying in the system for much longer. The goal is to keep families together or try to reunite them later, but it’s much more difficult because parents are in treatment a lot longer. The rate of recidivism is a lot higher. Heroin just seems to be a much more difficult drug problem to kick.
We have kids who are reunited with their parents and then have to be taken out of the home over and over again. They can be placed in different foster homes. They may initially have family resources available, but those family members sometimes decide they can’t handle it anymore. These children sometimes wind up with growing behavioral problems each time they are removed. It’s very traumatic on them.
A lot of people start with prescription pain pills and end up using heroin. Addicts describe heroin as a high unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. The first high is the best high, so they’re chasing that first high every time they use.
What caseworkers do is they arrange for services. The parents and the children need help. If a caseworker isn’t able to devote their full attention, that’s a problem. There are only so many hours in a day. If a recovering addict calls because they are going to use and they don’t get a call back from their caseworker that day because he or she is busy with other cases, now a family has fallen through the cracks.”
