Children whose parents use drugs
It is a human rights-based project that lies at the intersection of children’s rights to health, education, development, participation, an adequate standard of living as well as the right to not be separated from their families, and people’s rights to not be stigmatized, discriminated and criminalized because of substance dependence. It aims at building and consolidating narratives and practices that, while looking at parents and children in their own rights, address them also as a family.
The project also intends to be a contribution to the development of a wider children’s rights perspective in drug policy and a more aware drug policy perspective in the children’s rights agenda, thus contributing to the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2022-2027).
Between November 2020 and December 2022, the project involved 18 countries and more than 300 people, particularly experts from academia, the public sector and non-profit organisations working in the fields of children-centred programmes and services aimed at strengthening protective factors and resilience; families with multiple vulnerabilities; prevention, drug treatment and harm reduction; and services for women victims and survivors of domestic abuse. The information and reflections that nurture the project, its findings and recommendations have been collected through questionnaires, international and national focus groups, and semi-structured interviews with policy makers, experts, practitioners, women who use substances, and children and young adults living in families affected by substance dependence. This intensive work has resulted in four publications: Volumes I, II, III and IV of the series Children and families affected by parental drug use.
In 2023-2024 the Pompidou Group has taken the step further by elaborating the practical guide ‘Integrating gender and children’s rights in services for families affected by drug use’. The guide brings together the wealth of knowledge accumulated since the beginning of the project and sets out 108 concrete recommendations for governments, public institutions and non-governmental organisations that work with children and parents affected by substance dependence.
The guide aims to be an inspiration and a practical tool for national governments to adapt concrete recommendations relevant to specific national and local contexts to integrate a children's rights and gender perspective into services for families affected by drug use.
Executive summary of the guide (also available in Spanish)
‘Children Whose Parents Use Drugs – Promising practices and recommendations’ Volume I
- Volume I – Children whose parents use drugs (2022)
- Video presentation of the publication
- Executive summary of the report (also available in French, Italian and Spanish)
This publication sheds light on an invisible population: children and adolescents living in families where at least one parent uses drugs. This focus on children exposed to parental dependence on drugs and alcohol implies helping them and their families to overcome dependence and its consequences. Parental drug use impacts children at every stage of their lives, from before birth and well into their adult lives. However, until now, this situation has received very little attention. This publication looks at children growing up in families affected by drug and alcohol dependence, as well as the services, programmes and practices that help protect childhood and ensure children’s needs are met, while at the same time addressing the needs of parents.
The content, conclusions and recommendations presented in volume I of this series called "children and families affected by parental drug use" intend to contribute to increasing knowledge base and interest in the topic and serve as a practical reference for the identification of promising practices and international partners to address it. It includes 29 experiences and practices from governmental or non-governmental bodies, divided by main area of intervention and country. This has been possible thanks to the participation of 102 people in different activities.
Far from being a conclusion, this publication is the first step in an ongoing joint effort to give visibility to children of parents who use drugs and a tool to foster cooperation and dialogue between governmental and non-governmental actors.
‘We are warriors: Women who use drugs reflect on parental drug use, their paths of consumption and access to services’ Volume II
This publication is based on the participation of 110 women who use substances from nine countries, who are or have been in treatment. It includes their insights and recommendations on the impact of parental drug use during childhood on their life and subsequent drug use. It also explores the barriers and facilitators to accessing services and how to improve the response of services both to women who use drugs, and to children with parents who use drugs.
- Volume II – We are warriors (2023)
‘Listen to the silence of the child: Children share their experiences and proposals on the impact of drug use in the family’ Volume III
With this Volume III, 33 children in five countries are given the floor with the aim of making their experiences visible and ensuring that their voices are listened to, thus breaking the silence that surrounds the impact of parental drug use on children and letting them know that they are not alone.
Children were approached by services that already work with them, mainly drug treatment or harm reduction services, although in some cases child protection services were also involved.
‘Children and parents affected by drug use: An overview of programmes and actions for comprehensive and non-stigmatising services and care’ Volume IV
This fourth volume offers a perspective of how to develop more comprehensive, child centred approaches in drug policies in general and in non-stigmatising drug treatment and care in particular.
This study, which is the outcome of international collaboration among researchers, practitioners and policy makers at different levels, works toward the ultimate goal of meanstreaming human rights including children’s rights into drug policy.
The project "Children whose parents use drugs" mainly focuses on children. However, it becomes evident by analysing testimonies and policies and services, that working with parents who use substances is paramount for children's wellbeing.
Despite the evidence that most people who use substances are men in reproductive age, fathers are largely absent in the literature on substance use and parenting. Engaging men as fathers in social services or treatment services is not a mainstreamed practice. Men who use substances and are fathers are perceived only as individuals and are not under the radar of social services. In addition, parenthood is proven to be a protective factor, and often a motivation to enter into treatment. The research shows that men who use substances and who are in treatment think about their children and may desire to parent differently to what they experienced in childhood and provide care for their children.
To bridge the existing gap, Pompidou Group decided to study closer the role of fatherhood. In 2023 the first preliminary study was conducted. It presents a literature review as well as the results of focus groups with professionals and interviews with men who use substances in Malta and Italy. It is a preliminary work that opens the path for a larger project which will be available in 2025 and that includes the participation of 93 men from 11 countries. Listening to men who use substances and are fathers implies, among other points, guaranteeing that treatment-related services take into account parenthood in their work with clients, and that social services are conscious of the father role. It also means to continue to strengthen gender equity and question hegemonic masculinity in society as a whole, guaranteeing better and more protected environments for children and women and the possibility of change for men.