FAMILY SUPPORT
MISSED CHANCES
Support for parents pays huge dividends – it’ s also easily scalable and value for money. So why isn’ t it properly funded, asks Viv Evans
The NSPCC recently reported a 60 per cent rise in calls from children living with alcohol-dependent parents since 2019. These figures don’ t include those relating to illicit drugs.
Harms to children living with alcohol and drug use are well evidenced – abuse and neglect, psychological trauma, developmental and behavioural challenges and long-term health risks including mental health throughout adulthood. Impacts are many and significant.
The rhetoric seems to suggest this is some intractable problem without clear solutions. But children don’ t exist in a vacuum. While all the political focus( where it does exist) is on children and the person with the substance problem, very often there is also a non-using parent, perhaps grandparents, adult siblings or other family members. With so much evidence on harms to these children, how is it that we still don’ t have robust service provision to reach them through these other adults in their lives? Services for children themselves are important, but harms often begin well before children are of an age to engage usefully in services themselves. And, while most interventions will be time-limited, transformational investment in family relationships that empower the other adults in their lives can have effects which last a lifetime.
Policy seems to assume that to minimise harm we must simply remove the substance use. As we know, addiction is notoriously difficult to treat and, even when successful, can take years. Meanwhile, in the background, the other parent is often battling to keep the family afloat, juggling parenting responsibilities, managing the impacts of a partner’ s substance use, work and other challenges and needs. Treating substance use alone is not enough to pro tect children. The other adults in their lives are some of the most significant protective relationships in a child’ s life. Yet we rarely commission services that educate, equip and support them to play this protective role effectively.
Adfam’ s support services frequently see these other family members, desperately seeking support:
» Can they support their loved one to reduce substance use and recover from addiction? If so, how? If not, how can they take appropriate measures to separate or change the family structure to give everyone the best opportunity to thrive?
» How might the children be affected? How can they mitigate this and protect them?
» How can they manage their own( often extreme) stress and anxiety whilst keeping the show on the road?
These people are often facing complex emotional dynamics and decisions. Is it better for children to have no contact with a substance using parent? How might this harm them, compared with the possible harms of being exposed to the impacts of substance use? Is their own relationship with their substanceusing person salvageable? Do they want it to be?
With so much evidence on harms to children, how is it that we still don’ t have robust service provision to reach them through other adults in their lives?
Adfam’ s compassionate, informed professional support service helps individuals navigate these questions, and many more. It’ s possible to provide brief, intensive support that educates, guides and gently challenges, and which results in significant reduction of risk and harm to children in the family. While some individuals we see are involved with social care( or need to be) many of the parents who approach Adfam are in contact with no other services and don’ t meet referral thresholds – yet. By providing services for non-using parents, risk can be recognised and managed before things escalate.
Few local authorities even capture data on families supported. Yet, many of the estimated 2.6m children currently living with a parent who drinks too much have another parent who does not. At Adfam, we see these parents every day. Responsible, caring parents desperate to know the best way forward and to navigate their complex situations well.
Adfam currently receives funding to provide support in just six English local authority areas. Through direct commissioning or through partnerships with treatment providers, we are able to intervene early and provide crucial support, before situations escalate. But it really is a postcode lottery. We are currently unable to offer this vital support to the majority of UK residents – despite it being value for money, online and fully scalable, the funding is simply not there.
Support for parents, specific to the issues created by family substance use, is drastically under-utilised as a means to support children. Adfam is calling on local and national government and treatment providers to invest in family support. Supporting the adults around children is an investment in children’ s safety and resilience. Even a relatively small investment can help reduce risk now and create stronger families for the future. Viv Evans is chief executive of Adfam
Yan Batshev / Dreamstime
8 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • OCTOBER 2026 WWW. DRINKANDDRUGSNEWS. COM