Official: Custody cases climb with drug, alcohol abuse

• Within 14 years%2C child custody cases have increased 142 percent in Coshocton County.
• Drug and alcohol abuse are the reason for the majority of reported abuse and neglect cases.
• The rise in such cases has put a strain on Children Services staff and budget.
• The division has been under the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services since 2000.

COSHOCTON – Within 14 years, child custody cases have increased 142 percent in Coshocton County, which officials said is mostly a result of the drug and alcohol abuse that plagues the area.

The increase in such cases has put a strain on the local children services division, officials there say, which has neither the budget nor the staff to effectively respond to the children in need.

Much has changed since children services merged with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services-Coshocton in 2000, Director Mindy Fehrman said. Namely, in 2000, most of the children in her agency's custody were teenagers. In 2014, the majority consisted of younger children.

The reason: The majority of parents whose children are in the agency's custody have drug and alcohol issues, Fehrman said.

As a result, children are neglected and forgotten, she said, and left to fend for themselves. Further, without their parents there to guide them, children services has seen more children demonstrating inappropriate sexual behavior, among others things, Fehrman said.

"It can, and often does, impact their intimate relationships forever," she said.

"You're talking about some heavy-duty problems that we're witnessing," Fehrman said. "The intensity of the cases has grown exponentially."

Common story

It's a story becoming all too common in Coshocton County, officials say. As drugs such as heroin and methamphetamine continue to grow in use, children are often left in dangerous situations, said Detective Wess Wallace, who works with children services.

"It's systemic with everything," Wallace said.

A Coshocton man and woman were recently indicted on charges related to allegedly manufacturing drugs with two young children, a 2-year-old and a 1-year-old, in the house. Both pleaded not guilty to six charges in early March and are scheduled for trial this summer. While specific numbers as to the extent of such cases are tough to track, Coshocton County Prosecutor Jason Given confirmed they are increasingly prevalent.

"The large majority of child abuse cases generally have some kind of drug abuse linked into it from the perpetrator's side," Given said.

In 2014, the division received 813 calls reporting abuse or neglect. Officials investigated 88 of the cases, according to numbers provided by children services. Of those, 27 were substantiated.

Those numbers have steadily increased over the years; just one year prior, the division received 752 calls.

The number of reported cases has caused care expenses to climb to unsustainable levels, Fehrman said, and staffing has decreased when it should increase. There are 14 employees in the division this year.

"The money is tight," she said. "I think if these problems continue to grow like they are, it is very difficult to handle the scope of the problems people are encountering."

A permanent home

Often, the best, or most desirable, option is to keep children with their family, Fehrman said.

"Children services is often seen as the bad guy, that we go in and remove children from homes," Fehrman said. "The last thing we want is to uproot a child."

Before they would consider taking custody of a child, officials with children services work with parents to remedy whatever issues there might be, said Marcia Schmitt, a supervisor with the organization.

Schmitt helps children find a temporary place to live, often with other family members, while she works with the parents to better themselves. If, in a year, the problem is still evident, she looks for another home for the child.

"Parents need to maintain sobriety if we're going to recommend that children maintain their residence with parents," Fehrman said.

Case responses

Many reported cases of abuse or neglect — 57 percent in 2013 — are referred to an approach Fehrman's division calls "alternative response."

Started in 2010, this approach to dealing with cases that do not involve criminal charges is less confrontational than a traditional investigation.

Instead of showing up unannounced at a home where abuse has been reported, officials in the division will schedule a time to sit down with the family and work through the problem with them, said Kathy Art, the intake supervisor.

Alternative response emphasizes communication rather than conflict and finding solutions rather than finding blame, she said.

This year, the division has begun an approach called case-mapping, which involves multiple employees discussing a case — the strengths of the parent, the potential risks of the situation, the parent's history. The idea is to allow for multiple perspectives leading to better solutions, Art said.

But while those methods help the division meets its goal, the onus, Fehrman said, is on the parents to take the necessary steps to keep their children.

"We can provide the tools to keep their families safe," Fehrman said. "But we're not with them 24/7, and that responsibility has to lie with the parents."

elagatta@gannett.com

740-450-6753

Twitter: @EricLagatta

About the series

This is the first in a two-part series looking at the the state of child abuse and neglect in the county.

The first part essentially looks at the past and present. It examines the most common types of cases the Coshocton County Children Services Division faces, as well as how the agency evolved in the 15 years it has been under the Ohio Department of Juvenile and Family Services.

The second part, coming next Sunday, looks to the future. It examines what the agency is doing to meet the needs discussed in part one. Specifically, the agency has received a major grant and plans to implement a number of programs to combat abuse and neglect cases.