Drug and alcohol addiction in the family impacts children in Indiana harder than in any other state, according to the Indiana Youth Institute’s 2016 Kids Count report. At 13.4 percent, Indiana exceeds the national rate of 10.7 for children living with someone who has a drug or alcohol problem, says the report, citing a 2012 survey. And with Indiana still leading the nation in meth incidents, the report states that hundreds of those children are found in meth labs every year. In 2014, the most recent year the report looked at, Indiana State Police reported finding 362 children in meth lab environments. But the number is a drop from 440 of children found in meth labs in 2013, according to ISP data, and even fewer were found last year – 291. “Family members who have substance abuse problems affect children in multiple ways, including the adult’s behavior when under the influence and the children’s access and exposure to the substance,” states the report, released as part of a national network of state-level projects coordinated and supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. “Drug and alcohol abuse in the adult population has been increasing in Indiana. Since 2010, the number of Hoosiers enrolled in substance use treatment on a single-day count increased from 24,500 to 28,288 in 2013, nearly half of whom were in treatment for drug use only (45.2 percent) and another 38.7 percent for both drugs and alcohol.” In the same time period, state police reported 1,721 clandestine meth lab incidents in 2013; 1,466 incidents in 2014 and 1,452 last year. It’s a return to numbers last seen in 2011, though still higher than a decade ago. Since 2000, three children have died and 20 were injured due to meth labs. Most of the children were injured by exposure to chemicals and the rest by fire. Another 30 adults died in meth lab incidents since 2000 and 275 were injured. There have been 121 law enforcement injuries due to meth labs, according to ISP data. Between 2002 and 2014, meth lab seizures per 1,000 people in Kosciusko County were in the 3.7 to 8.5 range, according to the Youth Institute’s report. The rate is higher in Marshall and Noble counties, in the 8.6 to 20.1 range, but lower in Elkhart and Whitley.
