The Child Welfare System

The next article that was reviewed was focused on a service that is provided for parents struggling with substance abuse. The service is called Family Drug Court and is also referred to as FDC. The FDC is a child welfare court that specifically deals with parental substance abuse cases. This court system helps the parents quickly receive drug treatment that is needed, offers a more structured system for the parents and child, and also holds the parents to higher accountability for recovery. According to Margaret Lloyd, "Testa and Smith (2009) rigorously reviewed the literature and found that substance abuse is reported in 11-14% of investigated child welfare cases and in 50-79% of cases where the child is removed and placed in out-of-home care." The goal of the FDC is to

Many alcoholics are so preoccupied with their addictions, that issues and activities that were once of interest to them, are no longer a concern. The alcoholic then becomes oblivious to his responsibilities for his or her children. Children of alcoholics often suffer from neglect. According to the Children of Alcoholics Foundation, each year “1.2 million children are confirmed by state agencies as being victims of child neglect. Forty percent of these cases involve alcohol or drugs. This suggests that an estimated

There is no doubt that there is a prevalence of substance abuse throughout several age groups. To a certain extent, a society is faced with the reality of controlling substance abuse. Or allow it run rampant throughout the community. Often times, we hear and read about the level of substance abuse among teen, young adults and mid-aged

Growing up in the household under substances influence can cause severe damage to the child. Parental substance abuse has a significant impact on family function, and it may also contribute to child maltreatment. It heightens the risks to both of the physical and emotional safety of the children, and it generates children’s problematic outcomes. Children who grow up in such families may also experience mental health issues, social isolation, financial difficulties, and exposure to stressful life events and so on.

Although all sorts of families can be devastated by addiction, but single parent units (the most common lower class structure) are the most obscured. Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches supports, “In every family unit, each person plays a role (or multiple roles) to help the family function better and to maintain a level of homeostasis, stability and balance. When substance abuse is added to this dynamic, the family roles naturally shift to adjust to the new behaviors associated with drug or alcohol use, and to continue maintaining order and balance.”4 In single parent units there is an inability of a second parent to fill the void role of the addicted parent. The National Center for Biotechnology Information states, “Frequently, children may act as surrogate spouses for the parent who abuses substances. For example, [young] children may develop elaborate systems of denial to protect themselves against that reality of the parent’s addiction. Because that option does not exist in a single‐parent household with a parent who abuses substances, children are likely to behave in a manner that is not age‐appropriate to compensate for the parental deficiency.”2 So a child growing up in a compromised family unit where addiction is present may develop altered norms and mature into an addict themselves.4

The substance abuse of a parent has a lasting and apparent effect on all young children. There are a number of substances that can become a problem in people’s lives, including but not limited to; marijuana, alcohol, stimulants, depressants, narcotics, hallucinogens and inhalants. Drugs critically affect the individual taking them, but also affect the members of the household, especially children. Not only does the person’s addiction emotionally, mentally, and physically affect the individual lives of other members of the family, but it tears apart relationships between the families. Arguments, disagreements, violence, and stress can derive from the abuse of drugs because of the tension it puts on one’s other members of the family.

Results of this similar study by Toumbourou and Gregg (2002) demonstrate that “substance use was significantly reduced for students” (p. 281). In addition, these same adolescents reported higher levels of maternal care after the intervention than they had before; that is, being in a school where an intervention took place “almost doubled the odds of high maternal care” (Toumbourou & Gregg, 2002, p. 282). In this study, maternal care was associated with the attenuation of substance use (Toumbourou & Gregg, 2002). Further, there was a “high level of adherence to the PACE curriculum” (Toumbourou & Gregg, 2002, p. 279), indicating that caregivers of Glenville students will likely follow our program and show success in bettering their parenting skills and behaviors, as well as their relationships with their

Along with illegal behavior often a substance abuser will find themselves as homeless, spending their paychecks on their habits of using substances (Tracy, 2005). Children of abusers are affected by both possessing negative role models that set the example that drug use is not wrong and sometimes the children are placed into the care of the community because of neglect and abuse by the substance user (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Adolescent and School Health [CDC], 2009). Other medical, social, and economic issues also are being experienced from substance abuse and use.

factors in a majority of cases of emotional abuse and neglect. In fact, neglect is the

How Does Substance Abuse Affect the Family Unit? A Closer Look at What the Implications are and Treatment Options.

An estimated twenty five percent of youth under eighteen are exposed to familial alcohol abuse (Bellum). The Illinois Department of Human Services says that nearly six hundred seventy five thousand children per year suffer serious abuse or neglect as a direct result of substance abuse (‘Children”). What makes this a big problem in society?

Substance abuse disorders are significant public health concerns and rank among the most common psychiatric disorders beginning in young adulthood. Substance abuse is considered low or infrequent doses of alcohol or drugs such that damaging consequences are rare or minor (Child Welfare, 2012). Such abuse can cause social, mental, emotional, and behavioral problems. Although there are numerous studies that discuss issues of substance abuse, there is a lack of response towards childhood development impacted by parental substance use disorder (PSUD). PSUD impacts the child’s physical, psychological, social, and behavioral development. Based on data from 2002 to 2007, approximately 7.3 million children lived with a parent who was dependent on or abused alcohol and about 2.2 million lived with a parent who was dependent on or abused illicit drugs (SAMSHA, 2009).

Addicted parents spend a significant amount of time searching for drugs or alcohol and must spend time to obtain money to pay for their “fixes” whether by illegal or legal means. They have to have time to recover from hangovers or withdrawal symptoms. This constant cycle of obtaining, using and coming down from drugs leaves little time left over for their children. Social systems are overwhelmed by the number of children which need care from someone other than their addicted parents. Approximately, eighty percent of the children who enter foster care come from homes of addicted parents (Taylor 2011). Their stay in foster care is lengthened by the need for their parents to meet judicial rehabilitation requirements before being returned to their homes. In addition, these children having come from non-supportive and abusive environments require foster parents who are able to cope with issues of behavioral

Drug addiction is a serious issue in not only America today, but globally. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, substance addiction is a “chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite the harmful consequences” (“What is drug addiction?”). Drug abuse affects not only the user, but those around the user as well. The actions of a drug user place a significant amount of worry on the people that are closest to them such as friends and family. Children with parents who are addicted to drugs or alcohol can be severely affected by the actions of their parents which can cause them much harm in terms of biological and

Children can be subjected to the negative effects of parental substance use in a variety of different ways. For example, substance use during pregancy can cause detrimental outcomes for newborn infants by placing them at a higher risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), being born with birth defects, developing behavioral and developmental delays, being born premature, etc. Children with addicted parents, are placed at a higher risk of: lacking appropriate supervision; lacking basic needs such as: food, clothing, housing, and medical care; exposure to violence; developing substance abuse issues themselves.