Parental substance misuse
This section contains data relating to parents with alcohol and drug problems. It supports national and local understanding of:
- The prevalence of parents who use alcohol and drugs problematically and level of unmet treatment support needs.
- The socio-demographic and clinical profile of parents in treatment.
- Treatment outcomes for parents.
- Other relevant vulnerability indicators, such as the number of young people (<18 years) in treatment that are parents, children in need statistics and estimates of coexisting parental substance misuse, mental ill health and domestic abuse.
The data presented here is part of a wider package of resources aimed at directors of public health and children’s services, adult alcohol and drug treatment commissioners, front-line adult treatment and children and family’s services staff available from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/parents-with-alcohol-and-drug-problems-support-resources.
In addition to data, the package comprises:
- Planning and operational guidance for adult alcohol and drug treatment services and children’s services. The guidance outlines the main issues and shows how services can work together to support families affected by parental alcohol and drug problems.
- A slide pack, which presents a variety of evidence to encourage commissioners to invest in services working with families.
- A guide to collecting and using case studies to make an economic case for investing in interventions for families, and supporting social cost-benefit tool and unit cost database.
There is also an online support for professionals using these resources at Home - Parental Alcohol and Drug Use - Knowledge Hub (khub.net). This is an online community for people with an interest in parental alcohol and drug use and the impact it can have on children, carers and families. Join the group to keep up to date on policies, webinars, research and other publications and events on the topic.