x
Breaking News
More () »

Report shows growing number of children under state care supervision are dying of fentanyl overdoses

The 36-page report shows that in 2022, 39 children under state supervision died from abuse or neglect.

SPOKANE, Wash. — The Washington State Office of the Family and Children's Ombuds was created to protect kids from harm in the child protection and state welfare system.

A 36-page report released last month shows that in 2022, 39 children under state supervision died from abuse or neglect, more than enough to fill an entire school bus.

An additional 35 children nearly died due to mistreatment.

Infants between zero and 12 months old accounted for more than half of all deaths last year in children under state supervision and a leading cause of death among all ages is fentanyl.

Over the last five years, the state has seen a significant increase in children accidentally overdosing on drugs, especially fentanyl. The blue bars in the graph below show near fatalities while the orange bars show actual fatalities due to accidental overdoses.

"These problems are worsened with severe staffing shortages, excessive overtime and social workers assigned unmanagebly high case loads and workers placed in increasingly dangerous situations," Republican State Rep. Travis Couture said.

According to Couture, the legislature needs to make it easier to remove children from homes where there's an active opioid or methamphetamine using parent. He's also proposing legislation that would make assault of a social worker a felony, the same protection provided to state ferry workers.

Related

Pfizer and Moderna's updated COVID shots fully approved for people 12 and older

KREM ON SOCIAL MEDIA:Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP 
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE

HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE 

ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.

Fire TV: search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.

To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com

Before You Leave, Check This Out