Children and families affected by parental drug use

Children living in families affected by substance dependence may experience a wide array of feelings and situations, including anger, fear, isolation from their peers, parental neglect, and the unfortunate possibility of becoming victims or witnesses of domestic and sexual violence. While not all parents face difficulties in handling substance dependence and caring for themselves and their dependent children simultaneously, some families may indeed require support from the community and social services.

The Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe's project, titled "Children whose parents use drugs," lies at the intersection of children's rights to realize their full potential and the rights of parents with substance dependence to receive trauma-informed treatment and stigma-free social and health services that consider their parental responsibilities.

This project involves the active participation of 18 countries and over three hundred individuals, including practitioners, women who use substances, and children and young adults living in families affected by substance dependence.

The project's outcomes include a dedicated webpage, two reports, and four books, as well as fostering cooperation among countries and international services. Thanks to this initiative, for the first time, children living in families affected by substance dependence are now included in the Council of Europe's Strategy for the Rights of the Child 2022-2027.

Learning Outcomes:

Conceptual tools to define the impacts of parental substance use on children.
Concrete examples of international actions in a wide array of fields, to develop a comprehensive care for children and families.
Recommendations developed by children and young adults.
The gender dimension of substance use from the perspective and recommendations of women who use substances and are in treatment.

Agenda:

Brief description of the project: birth, objectives, methodology, countries involved and outcomes (10 minutes).
Description of each publication (15 minutes)
Findings and recommendations in the fields of: data gathering, actions and services targeted at families; treatment services, including those for women and their children; refuges for women who are survivors of violence and use substances (10 minutes).
Examples of promising practices (10 minutes).

Presenter: Corina Giacomello

Corina Giacomello is consultant to the Pompidou Group for the project Children whose parents use drugs and professor at the Autonomous University of Chiapas.

She has more than 15 years of experience in advocacy-oriented research and development of legal, judicial and public policy proposals at the national and international level. Her lines of research include women deprived of their liberty, adolescents in conflict with the law, children with incarcerated parents and women who use drugs.

Webinars and online events delivered and hosted by the International Society of Substance Use Professionals (ISSUP) are provided for informational purposes only. They are educational in nature and do not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Attachments

Corina Giacomello - Presentation Slides

Children whose parents use drugs: Promising practices and recommendations

We are warriors: Women who use drugs reflect on parental drug use, their paths of consumption and access to services

Listen to the silence of the child: Children share their experiences and proposals on the impact of drug use in the family

Children and parents affected by drug use: An overview of programmes and actions for comprehensive and non-stigmatising services