Drugs and foster care are not a good combination
Drugs can be a major factor causing children to fall for trafficking schemes. From having drug-dependent parents to having foster parents involved with drugs, these children are dangerously close to becoming easy prey to traffickers.
In an article by Human Trafficking Search, they point out that children, who have parents that are addicted, are at tremendous risk.
Parents addicted to opiates/opioids have seemingly led to an increase of what is referred to as “familial sex trafficking,” the selling of children by family members for drugs or money. The Office on Trafficking in Persons, part of the Administration for Children & Families, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recently hosted a webinar, “Human Trafficking and the Opioid Crisis,” which highlighted familial trafficking and stressed that drug addiction can be leveraged by traffickers to exploit the user’s children.
Taking children from addict parents leads to them being placed in the foster system, which often does not have the intended results. Again, the article points out …
Parents addicted to the drugs have trouble caring for their children and thus we see an increase of youth in the foster care system. Given the high rates of trafficking of youth from the foster care system, this can lead to an increase in trafficking, particularly as state child welfare systems are overwhelmed and underfunded.
Brian Morris, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Special Agent and co-chair of the West Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force, detailed this disturbing trend to West Virginia Public Broadcasting, “most of what I see is familial trafficking,” and arguing that the practice is very likely to be “severely underreported.” Further, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey stated that “West Virginians are especially vulnerable to human trafficking because of the opioid epidemic, poverty, and a large number of children in foster care,” — acknowledging this critical link.
But this is not uniquely a problem in West Virginia. It’s also quite well known in many states from coast to coast. One state even reports a direct correlation between opiod addiction and their 40% increase in foster child placement in just three years.
To see if your state is one of the worst, please read the whole article: The Opioid Epidemic, Foster Care, and Human Trafficking
Nine more articles you might find enlightening:
The worst thing your child won’t tell you
What to tell your child before it’s too late
Can you believe human zoos existed in this country
Learn the dangerous language of human traffickers before your child does
Learning the facts about sexual violence – these stats are incredible
Want to get involved with ending human trafficking?
Saint Bakhita – patron saint of trafficking victims
Look beneath the surface – would you recognize someone being trafficked?
Make a friend – save someone from becoming a trafficking victim
Photograph courtesy of Jukka Niittymaa on Pixabay
