New approaches to parental substance misuse

This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund - Copyright @ 2011 HarwinParental substance misuse is a major social problem. No-one knows exactly how many children are growing up in families where one or both parents have a drug or alcohol problem, or misuse both substances. Hidden Harm, the report by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (2003), 1reported that at least 2-3% (200-300,000) of children under 16 in England and Wales live with one or two parents misusing illegal drugs. Up to 9% (1.3 million) children are estimated to be affected by parental alcohol misuse