9 young people overdosed last year while under DCF’s watch

Three youths under the watch of the state’s Department of Children and Families died of overdoses last year, and six others suffered nonfatal overdoses — the most since state officials declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency five years ago.

The nine cases, disclosed in a recent state report, have set off alarms among child welfare advocates. While it’s unclear if it’s a grim, new trend or a tragic anomaly, they said the overdoses underline how much the drug crisis is still buffeting DCF, the agency charged with helping protect children from abuse and neglect.

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