A review of services for children and young people with drug-misusing carers

In 2003, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) published Hidden Harm, a report which drew on a range of research to highlight the damage caused to children whose parents misuse drugs. This can start before a child is born, when maternal drug use during pregnancy can cause foetal harm, and can continue throughout childhood and beyond through the general ill effects of poverty, poor housing and/or frequent changes of residence, physical and emotional abuse or neglect, inadequate supervision, inappropriate parenting or parental behaviour, inconsistent school attendance, exposure to criminal activities and temporary or permanent separation from parents. Children of drug users often experience more than one of these and the result can be inadequate health care for children, delayed mental health development, emotional, cognitive and behavioural problems, poor educational attainment, substance misuse and offending behaviour. Children whose parents misuse alcohol can suffer the same ill effects (Turning Point 2006) but the illegality of drug use brings additional mental and emotional stress to families and leads to the added burden for children of having to deny its existence (Kroll 2004).