Countywide : Drug-Addicted Babies Tax System, Report Says

There are not enough senior social workers or foster homes to care for babies born with drug dependencies in Orange County, according to a grand jury report released Wednesday.

The report said there were 202 drug-exposed babies born in Orange County from July, 1988, through April, 1989. Because there are not enough foster homes, some babies are unnecessarily kept in hospitals at a significantly higher cost to the government.

The cost for a hospital to accommodate a drug dependent baby is up to $7,500 per month. In a foster home, the cost ranges from $559 to $867 per month, the report said.

In conclusion, the grand jury recommended that the Social Services Agency “actively pursue a recruitment program for additional foster families” and that it try to hire more senior social workers.

The report also recommended that the county explore the possibility of developing special homes where drug dependent babies can remain with their birth mothers while they are in drug treatment programs, as other counties have done.