Parental Substance Misuse: the impact on children and goals for parental change

In an average classroom, 2 of the 30 children will go home to a parent with a serious drug or alcohol problem. Parental substance misuse may have a significant impact on a parent’s capacity and a child’s safety or wellbeing. However, many families manage in these circumstances. The challenge for workers is often to assess impact and to facilitate change.

Our 2 half day interactive group session course for professionals working with children and families is designed to help build knowledge and confidence to work more effectively with families where substance misuse may impact on parents and on children and to plan for progress and change. You will explore, through presentations, discussions and case studies:

Session 1

• The research into parental substance misuse and different substances
• The impact of parental substance misuse on different age groups of children
• The impact of parental substance misuse on children’s health, development and safety
• Inter-related risks associated with parental substance misuse

Session 2

• Ways to understand the life of children in families where there is parental substance misuse
• Evidence informed interventions to help families
• Goal setting for parents to change behaviour within the timeframe of the child