Washoe County Human Services Agency Direct Services to Child Victims of the Opioid Crisis

OVC’s mission is to enhance the Nation’s capacity to assist crime victims and provide leadership in changing attitudes, policies, and practices to promote justice and healing for all victims of crime. OVC achieves this mission, in part, by administering discretionary award programs supported by the federal Crime Victims Fund to develop innovative training and technical assistance, and to provide direct services to improve the overall quality of victim assistance. The purpose of the FY 2018 Enhancing Community Responses to the Opioid Crisis: Serving Our Youngest Crime Victims is to address an urgent gap in crime victim services related to the opioid epidemic and to expand upon existing or establish new programs to provide services to children and youth who are victimized as a result of the opioid crisis. The overarching goal of this program is to support children and youth who are crime victims as a result of the opioid crisis by providing direct services and support to these young victims at a community or jurisdictional level.

Statistics from the Washoe County Human Services Agency (WCHSA) Data Book reveal that in Washoe County, the 3-year average of child removals due to substance abuse was nearly half of all removals. Many more of the removals had substance abuse as a secondary removal factor. Children are entering foster care because their parents are addicted to opioids, or have abused other legal and illegal drugs, which has affected their ability to be a productive caregiver. WCHSA has identified four objectives for this project with associated activities and deliverables to help mitigate the opioid and substance abuse problem in Washoe County and address the effects of the growing opioid crisis on our young victims. The project will provide clinical staff trained to provide evidence-based practices to children from birth through age 18 who have been victimized as a result of parents’ and caregivers’ abuse of substances, particularly opioids. Based on the results of the child assessment, treatment plans will be developed and therapeutic modalities employed aligned with the diagnosis. These young victims often need ancillary direct services that assist in healing and returning the child to a degree of normalcy, safety, and well-being. WCHSA will provide these services once identified by child and family teams..

CA/NCF