Child protective services stepped into Bobbi Beverly’s life within days of her daughter’s birth in 2012. After the birth, Beverly tested positive for opiates and marijuana, and lost custody of her daughter soon after because she wasn’t able to stop using and had turned to heroin.
The Alabama Department of Human Resources (DHR), which manages the state’s child protective services and foster care systems, placed her daughter with a relative.
“When DHR first comes into your life, it’s scary and confusing, and you’re angry,” said Beverly, who has been sober since 2013. “The one thing that would have give me any kind of relief, which was using drugs, I wasn’t allowed to do anymore. I didn’t know how to cope with life without it.”
Beverly came into contact with DHR just as the numbers began to rise, as Alabama began placing more children in child protective services due to parental drug use.