The role of substance use in child welfare caseloads

Anecdotal evidence suggests that recent rises in foster care caseloads are due to increasing parental substance use, particularly misuse of opioids. This study tests the association between child welfare caseloads and two measures of substance use prevalence, including drug overdose deaths and drug-related hospitalizations, for most counties in the United States over the 2011 to 2016 period. We use several statistical models to account for...