PENNSYLVANIA, USA — More than 750,000 Pennsylvanians have an active substance use disorder and many of them are parents.
"There's a significant effect on children, and yet we're not really talking about it," said Cathleen Palm, founder of The Center of Children's Justice.
Data from the Pennsylvania-based organization's new report shows at least 342 infants died between 2012 and 2021 in incidents where parent's substance abuse was a factor.
"The curiosity of children, the small size of children, their different metabolic nature, it all makes them more susceptible to exposure whether it's opiates, but particularly when it's something as toxic and as lethal and fast as fentanyl," Palm said.
"I never imagined what we're facing today," said Dauphin County Coroner Graham Hetrick. "We've had 6-month-olds that have had fentanyl in their system."
Hetrick said fentanyl is easily 100 times stronger than heroin.
He said opioids can pose a threat to children even if they don't come in direct contact with the drug.
"People are on drugs and then they do co-sleeping," Hetrick said. "They don't know when they roll over on the child and then the child's dead."
"You have individuals that might be driving high, combining it with alcohol, with children in the car as well," said York County District Attorney Dave Sunday.
Sunday said close to 100% of the overdose deaths in York County are fentanyl-related.
He said the non-profit York Opioid collaborative is dealing with the issue from all sides, including protecting children.
"We have to hold people accountable, we have to get the drug traffickers, at the same time we do everything in our power to help people that are in the throws of addiction get treatment," Sunday said.
The Center for Children's Justice said it's been pushing the governor's office for research related to substance use disorder's impact on children for seven years, only to see the fatalities continue.
"We need, as a society, to come together and say, 'Are we going to allow this?' Are we going to allow our children to die this way?" Hetrick asked.
"We have to start to have treatment that is more readily available, more clinically appropriate and, frankly, allows children and families to go through that treatment together," Palm said.
Palm said she does not want to villainize parents who are struggling with substance use disorder, instead, she wants to get them the help they need and keep their families together at the same time.