Jim Mason, Beech Acres Parenting Center President & CEO was in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 14, to present to members of Congress and their staffs about the impact the opioid epidemic is having on the children, families, foster parents and organizations who make up the larger child welfare system. He shared specific recommendations to stem the rising tide of children whose futures are at risk due to the largest epidemic of its kind in our nation’s history.

“We need an integrated system of child welfare, substance use, mental health, enforcement, and other resources, so the appropriate services are available when needed to help each child and family,” Mason said. “It is also vital that we expand and support each community’s ‘help-force’; those extended family members, foster and adoptive parents, and professionals who dedicate themselves to the well-being of children and families so they can heal from the trauma they experience.”

Read the press release here.