Peer-reviewed article
Effects of Opioid Treatment Programs on Child Well-Being
Lindsey Rose Bullinger, Vivian Wang, Kenneth A. Feder ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5The study looks at whether parents' access to medication-assisted opioid treatment programs affects their children's well-being. It uses the lifting of a moratorium on these programs in Indiana, United States. After a county opened a program, methadone dispensing rose and emergency visits for opioid overdose fell. Reports of child maltreatment did not change significantly, but out-of-home foster care placements fell by 22 percent. The authors suggest that wider access to these programs may help reduce foster care placements.
Key points
- Children of parents with opioid use disorder are at higher risk of maltreatment.
- After a county opened a treatment program, methadone dispensing increased.
- Emergency department visits related to opioid overdose decreased after a program opened.
- Opening a program had no significant effect on reports of child maltreatment.
- Out-of-home foster care placements were reduced by 22 percent.
Limitations
The abstract does not describe the comparison method, the number of counties, or the time period, so we cannot judge how strong the causal claim is. It covers one US state only and says nothing about settings in Africa or other countries.
Abstract
Children exposed to parental opioid use disorder are at an elevated risk of maltreatment. We study whether parents’ access to medication-assisted opioid treatment programs (OTPs) affects the well-being of their children. An administrative decision to lift a moratorium on access to these programs in Indiana created the opportunity for this study. We show that after a county opened an OTP, methadone dispensing increased and emergency department visits related to opioid overdose decreased there, offering evidence of the success of these programs. We also show that the opening of these OTPs did not have significant effects on reports of child maltreatment, but that out-of-home foster care placements were reduced by 22 percent. Our findings are consistent with past research showing that child welfare cases involving parental substance use tend to be complex and tend to have longer times to parent/child reunification than child welfare cases in which substance use is not present. We argue that expanding access to opioid treatment programs may help reduce foster care placements.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Opening of medication-assisted opioid treatment programs (OTPs) in counties in Indiana after a moratorium on these programs was lifted.
- Population
- Children and parents in Indiana counties where an OTP opened, with the parents' opioid use measured through methadone dispensing and overdose-related emergency visits.
Key finding
Methadone dispensing increased after a county opened an OTP.
Bullinger et al. · OpenAlex · 1 Sept 2022