Formative Research on Opioids and Their Impact on Children, Youth, and Families: Identifying Opportunities for Injury Prevention

Opioid overdoses and related hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise, contributing to burgeoning child welfare caseloads, removals, and foster care placements. Substance misuse limits parents’ ability to provide consistent care and exposes their children to unsafe situations and conflict.

The opioid epidemic presents significant challenges for health and human service systems that serve children, youth, and families. Research is needed to understand these challenges and identify effective primary and secondary strategies for injury prevention.

As a subcontractor to ICF, JBA helped design and implement a formative qualitative study of the impact of the opioid epidemic on children, youth, families, and service systems. Six counties with high and low opioid risk indicators were engaged in the study. Findings from staff and caregiver interviews and focus groups will help the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention understand factors that may protect communities from the effects of opioid misuse.