Inside a Preschool That Treats the Youngest Victims of the Opioid Crisis

HAMILTON, Ohio — In the living room of his mother’s apartment, a threadbare two-story unit next to the train tracks, Ryder pulls out bulky plastic toys from a bin and wonders aloud about how they work, smiling toothily, mumbling along to “Baby Shark” and occasionally popping another fruit-flavored gummy into his mouth.

Although he maneuvers from one activity to the next with the energy and ease of a typical tyke, Ryder, at age 4, has already been exposed to more instability and anguish than most people will experience in a lifetime.