Nottingham Project Spearheads Major Drive To Help Children Affected By Drugs and Alcohol

A Nottingham-based project is launching the UK's first initiative to help drug and alcohol practitioners reach the thousands of children who are affected by parental substance misuse.

The National Practitioners' Forum - launched by The Children's Society's STARS National Initiative this week (14 July 2004) - aims to bring drug treatment workers, counsellors and other specialists in the drugs and alcohol field together to share information on how children affected by parental substance misuse can be supported.

The initiative has the potential to transform the lives of the 350,000 children in the UK whose parents misuse drugs, as well as the 1.3 million children whose parents misuse alcohol.

Sara Mayer, STARS project manager, says: "We hope the forum will help revolutionise the way drug and alcohol practitioners work.

"Having a parent who uses drugs or alcohol can have a devastating impact on a child's life. When children live with parents who use drugs, the onus of surviving often rests on their shoulders.

"Our goal is to ensure every child, whose parents use substances, will get the support and protection they urgently need."

Through the forum, the UK's top drug and alcohol specialists will meet up to four times a year to highlight the most effective ways of supporting children affected by an adult's substance misuse. They will also receive regular updates on practice and research on parental substance misuse through a dedicated website, managed by the project.

Additionally, the website will provide information for children on where they can get support and advice, and feature tips on how to cope with parents who use drugs and alcohol.

Funded by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) for three years, the forum follows a recommendation by the Government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which called for the creation of a national association of drug and alcohol practitioners to share their expertise.¹

STARS will also use part of the DfES grant to develop training and consultancy for groups, such as social services departments and drug and alcohol action teams, wanting to support children affected by substance misuse.

¹ Hidden Harm - The children of Problem Drug Users, June 2003, published by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs

Case Study: Steven's Story

Steven was 11 when his mother and stepfather began to use crack. The situation got so bad that he became the main carer for his three young siblings, as his parents weren't capable of looking after them.

He desperately wanted to speak to someone but was afraid he'd get his parents into trouble.

"I didn't know who to speak to and felt like I was completely on my own. The worst thing was knowing something was wrong, but not being able to do anything about it."

Isolated and afraid, Steven kept this 'secret' to himself. He started to miss school to look after his sisters and began to cut himself off from his friends.

"When you live with people who use drugs or alcohol, it makes you miss out on things like school or having friends. I didn't want anyone to know what was happening at home and was worried that people would make fun of me."

Steven's life descended further into chaos when he was arrested for assaulting a classmate at school.

A local Youth Offending Team referred Steven to The Children's Society's STARS project where, for the first time, he was able to talk about what was happening at home.

"I felt so angry about what was happening and couldn't control my feelings. Talking to someone about what was going on really helped me."

The project helped Steven to explore his feelings, cope with his anger and rebuild his self-esteem. It also worked closely with his school to make sure he did not fall behind in his studies.

With the support of The Children's Society, Steven, now 13, enjoys a stable home life with his parents who are no longer using substances.

Details have been changed to protect the identity of the young person. The information is based on a real life example of someone who has used the STARS project.