Parental Substance Misuse: Impact, Children and Change

About 1 in 10 children go home to a parent with a serious problem with alcohol of drugs. Parental substance misuse is found in approximately half of all child protection cases and just under half of all serious case reviews. For children returning home after a period in care, parental substance misuse is the highest risk factor for placement breakdown.

This one-day course provides professionals working with families where there is substance misuse the skills and knowledge to assess risks and the impact on children and young people as well as to support parental behaviour change. 

Course overview:

This one-day course helps workers from all agencies to assess the impact of parental substance misuse on the health, emotional, cognitive and behavioural well-being of babies, children and teenagers; to undertake meaningful direct work with children and to facilitate and assess change in parental behaviours. 

Learning objectives:

• Examine the research evidence of different substances on the health and development of children and young people
• Consider the different potential risks of drug use and of alcohol use in pregnant women
• Explore ways to understand the life of children in substance misusing families
• Consider goal scaling as a method and tool to plan for change and to assess outcomes