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Parental Drug Abuse Research Paper

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Introduction
Growing up in a home with parents who abuse drugs can have major short term and long term effects on children who are exposed to it. The experiences can cause them to suffer minor to severe physical and emotional issues. The issues can later lead to the child not to being able to function in society productively. Or maybe even following the same down spiral as their parents. In this research paper, I will define the term drug abuse, the effects parental drug abuse can have on a child before, during, and after conception, parental drug abuse in the home, and some preventive measures that can be taken by society to protect children from the life-altering effects of parental drug abuse.
Drug Abuse Defined Taking drugs one time is …show more content…

There several preventive measures that have been designed to protect children from the effects of parental drug abuse. One of the measures put in place is a cross-system collaboration called Project SAFE. According to Oliveros and Kaufman (2011) “Project SAFE (Substance Abuse Family Evaluation) was initiated to facilitate cross-system and interagency collaboration. Project SAFE involved (1) establishing a collaborative relationship between child protection and adult mental health and addiction service systems, (2) implementing a screening tool for protective service workers to determine if clients needed specialty substance abuse evaluation, (3) hiring a substance abuse specialist for each of regional child protection services offices to consult with workers, and (4) contracting with a statewide behavioral health consortium to provide drug testing, substance abuse assessments, and outpatient treatment - with these contracted services available to augment publicly funded substance abuse assessment and treatment resources. (p. 28). Another protect measure that is put in place for mothers and the unborn babies are the Engaging Moms Program. Oliveros and Kaufman (2011) The Engaging Moms (EM) program was initially developed for mothers of cocaine-exposed infants involved with child welfare. EM is a manualized home-based 12-week intervention designed to promote maternal enrollment and retention in substance abuse services. EM interventions are guided by principals derived from multidimensional family therapy and incorporate approaches focused on the individual and family level. EM specialists address barriers to treatment (e.g., transportation, childcare), and therapeutic contacts focus on (1) validating mother's feelings about delivering a substance-exposed baby, (2) highlighting losses and missed opportunities as well

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