THERE IS a significant correlation between drug use in the home and occurrences of child abuse and neglect.

The Maryland Citizens' Review Board for Children found that in 74 percent of all cases in which children under age 2 were removed from families because of abuse or neglect, at least one parent was a substance abuser.

With these numbers, it's clear that providing opportunities for Baltimore's families to overcome drug abuse is a moral obligation. But it is equally clear that the economic benefits of aiding these families cannot be overlooked.

It costs the state $10,000 annually for out-of-home placement per child. Multiply that figure by five, since most children remain in foster care for an average of five years, and the financial impact of ignoring the link between drug abuse and foster care becomes staggering.

Foster care and adoption in Baltimore during 2000 cost the city more than $125.5 million. These costs soar even higher when we add spending for the medical treatment or educational remediation that children born to drug-abusing mothers often need.

The best way to help Baltimore's children and address these astronomical expenses is to help parents be the good parents they endeavor to be. Providing access to substance abuse treatment is the first step, but only a first step. For treatment to be effective, we know it must be available, appropriate and ongoing.

Currently, there are not enough publicly funded drug treatment slots available for mothers with children. Although the number of slots doubled this year to 41, thanks to Mayor Martin O'Malley, we still fall well short of meeting demand in Baltimore. Mothers need intensive, in-patient treatment with their children, or too often they simply won't seek treatment.

Effective treatment also must provide a variety of services for mothers, such as parent training, social support, child care and transportation, minimizing the obstacles to recovery.

And supporting these mothers must be an ongoing activity. The National Institute on Drug Abuse cites stress as one of the major contributors to drug abuse relapse, which again impacts our foster care system. Home visits and support groups are ways to protect our investments in families.

To be sure, these investments are needed, and they also are sound and cost-effective.

The average cost for comprehensive residential adult drug treatment for six months is $22,500 per person. Compare that with the $50,000 per child we pay for the average stay in foster care. This leaves little room for argument and even less time to wait.

This is a challenge Baltimore has already started to face and one we can meet with continued focus and increased resources. Since 1997, our city has researched, developed and implemented a comprehensive family support strategy, Baltimore's Success By Six Partnership. The drug treatment and family support programs provided through neighborhood cooperatives of service providers, faith institutions and community members have helped to reduce incidents of child abuse and neglect by 20 percent.

Expansion of our drug treatment and family support efforts to assist Baltimore's families will provide even greater results for our young people and even greater long-term savings for taxpayers.

It is imperative that we provide Baltimore's struggling families with the treatment and support they need -- before foster care becomes necessary. The best remedy for our state's foster care system is to eliminate the need for it, and prevention through opportunity is the key.

The Rev. Karen Brown is executive director of the Druid Heights, Reservoir Hill and Upton (DRU) Family Support Center.