ABSTRACT
It is estimated that between 241,000 and 359,000 children in the UK are in the care of problem drug users, with between two and three per cent of children aged less than 16 years living with parents for whom this is an issue (ACMD 2003). Although not all such parents require intervention, research has highlighted the complex problems that many face, the emotional, social, educational and psychological implications for their children and the challenges that professionals encounter when attempting to intervene purposefully in their lives. We also know that parental drug misuse is frequently the reason that children are placed on child protection registers or enter the ‘looked after’ population (Forrester 2000), requiring substitute care either in foster placements or with relatives who are often unprepared for the challenges they present (Kroll 2006).
