SARASOTA COUNTY — Sarasota County leads the state in a category where it would rather not find itself on top: children entering the welfare system and going into foster care, primarily due to their parents abusing drugs and alcohol.

Kathryn Shea, president and chief executive officer of the Florida Center for Early Childhood, said the number of children in the county entering the child welfare system, being removed from their homes and placed in foster care, has risen in the past three years — at the same time statewide rates as a whole have dropped. Shea said many of the children are under the age of 5.