Fund to help Ohio child agencies battered by opioid crisis  

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio’s human services agency says it’s investing nearly $1 million in an emergency fund to help county children services departments battered by the opioid epidemic.

Kimberly Hall is director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. She says the Emergency Response Fund will help agencies in crisis because of large-scale staff turnover, a child’s death, concerns about an agency’s performance, or other emergencies.

Nearly 16,000 children are in custody in Ohio, a record high largely attributed to parents and guardians being unable to care for them because of opioid addictions.