Commissioner Jim Henry of the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services says almost every case the DCS now investigates is somehow connected to drugs. The agency reports that in 2012, more than 41% of DCS investigations involving child abuse also involved drugs, up nearly 60% from cases in 2008. In that same period, the agency reports an increase in the number of children taken into state custody because of parental substance abuse. The Tennessean newspaper reports that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is testing new ways to report when drugs and children are found in the same home. One is a program in the Cumberland County sheriff's office that includes training on how to investigate drug cases as potential child abuse cases and puts a DCS caseworker inside the sheriff's office.
DCS Commissioner Says Almost Every Case Of Child Abuse Now Connected To Drugs
