HOME GROWN ORPHANS –
Oct. 16, 2025 – “Parental deaths from overdoses, homicides, suicides, and other substance-related causes are associated with more adverse health outcomes and higher rates of early mortality in their children, so more attention is needed in this area, because no child should ever have to grieve alone.” “Despite some recent declines in fatal drug overdoses, the number of children who have experienced a parental death due to a drug overdose continues to rise in Michigan and nationally because of the tremendous surge in fatal drug overdoses over the past decade,” McCabe said.
One notable finding, he says, is that counties experiencing high levels of parental deaths due to drug overdose, homicide, suicide and other substance-related causes are spread across the state rather than concentrated in one area.
Some counties that topped the list include: Marquette, Luce, Alger, Dickinson, Baraga, Menominee, Charlevoix, Manistee, St. Clair, Monroe, Calhoun and Crawford.
