Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
DCYF data show spike in reviewable child fatalities and near‑fatalities tied to opioids; agency rolls out targeted practices
Summary
Department of Children, Youth and Families officials told the Senate committee that child‑welfare reviewable critical incidents (fatalities and near‑fatalities) rose sharply in 2022–2024, with a spike in early 2025 driven largely by opioid‑related cases; DCYF described new statewide practices, monitoring and a decision package to restore paused SB
Vicky Ybarra, DCYF’s assistant secretary for Partnerships, Prevention and Services, told the Senate Human Services Committee that reviewable critical incidents—child fatalities or near‑fatalities with recent child‑welfare involvement—rose substantially in 2022–2024 and produced a concerning early‑2025 spike. Ybarra said the department’s statutory reviews show the increase tracks closely with opioid and fentanyl trends reported by emergency medical services (EMS) data.
Ybarra gave committee members a timeline of entries to out‑of‑home care: entries fell from about 3,300 in 2023 to about 2,800 in 2024 after 12/27’s removal standard took effect, then rose again to roughly 3,200 after SB 6109 (the fentanyl‑response law) was implemented. She said the state saw 22 DCYF reviewable…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
