A third of drug addicts or problem drinkers in treatment have childcare responsibilities and the lives of these children are much improved when providers and children's services get together early on to ensure the whole family gets the support it may need.

A new practical guide issued today (Wednesday, 1st June) by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) says those responsible for drink and drug treatment must take a wider, more preventative approach, identifying early on when families need help as well as protecting children from neglect and harm.

The guide also calls on children and family services to view treatment for parents as a way of improving life for the whole family and to get involved when problems are first identified ensuring these are dealt with before a crisis point is reached.

Rosanna O'Connor, Director of Delivery for the NTA, said:

"In many ways, having a parent in drug or alcohol treatment protects the child because their mother or father is more motivated to get better, stabilise their lives and seek support.

"The danger is, as the Munro Review pointed out, that children are too often 'invisible' to adult front line services, including those dealing with substance misuse, which tend to focus on the person in front of them."

The guide draws on existing guidelines and makes new recommendations on how those seeking treatment are assessed and when and how children and families services should be involved.   It offers clear advice to managers and commissioners on partnership working to identify, assess, refer, support and treat adults with the aim of protecting any children involved and improving their outcomes. 

Supporting Information for the Development of Joint Local Protocols between Drug and Alcohol Partnerships, Children and Family Services was supported by the Department for Education and is available on the NTA website.

Notes:

Latest statistics for drug treatment in England

About the future of the NTA 

• The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) is a special health authority which aims to improve the availability, capacity and effectiveness of drug treatment in England. 
• When it published the NHS white paper last year, the government announced that as part of the reforms proposed, the NTA would cease to exist as a separate organisation and its key functions would be transferred to a new national service, Public Health England (PHE).
• The companion public health white paper subsequently made clear that reducing drug use, and enabling people to overcome dependency, recover fully and contribute to society, would be a key priority for this new public health service.
• The Department of Health is now taking forward the transition to PHE, under which services will in future be commissioned by local authorities through Directors of Public Health, supported by Health & Wellbeing Boards.
• During the interim period the NTA will drive the transformation from a 'treatment system' to a 'recovery system' to provide a solid foundation on which PHE can build.

Around three quarters of local areas either have clear processes in place via a joint protocol (50%) or are in the process of developing those (25%). These processes set out how substance misuse and children services can work together to safeguard where there is parental substance misuse, but this is not of itself enough and Eileen Munro has said as much; it is about the impact that these processes have on young people and their families. This also supports the recovery ambition set out in Government's Drugs Strategy and is a key part of the Families with Multiple Problems campaign.

For further information please contact:

Lynne Nasti, National Treatment Agency,
Senior Communications Officer (Media)
Tel: 020 7972 1920 Mob: 07747 535961 (also out of hours)
lynne.nasti@nta-nhs.org.uk