Jenny Crouch, Project co-ordinator, Addaction Derby
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Breaking the Cycle is a four-year pilot in response to the Hidden Harm report on the effects of parental drug use, which showed that children of drug and alcohol users are seven or eight times more likely to develop problematic use themselves.
Derby is one of three pilot areas, along with Cumbria and Tower Hamlets.
Clients are usually referred to me by adult drug services or other professionals. The first step is to assess their needs, usually at home. It gives you a more rounded appreciation of what is going on in their lives. We then try to establish how to reduce their usage and establish some stability to reduce harm on family life.
There is a range of strategies from helping people get into treatment to reducing the risk of using drug paraphernalia. One of the positive things about the programme is its flexibility. Six months is the average time we see people, but everybody is different and I have been seeing some parents for 18 months. If their lives are chaotic, I can be in contact two or three times a week. We monitor the children's lives too - things like school attendance are a good indicator of how they are doing.
Issues other than drug use can also start to emerge and I have to ensure parents access the relevant services. We try to make people accountable, but it may be frightening for them to contact a service initially so we can do that or help with transport.
Our success depends on working with other organisations and that can be a challenge as they may not be well-resourced. Family support is quite broad so there can be issues over defining who does what. We are also trying to improve training for workers.
We hope the programme eventually gets mainstream funding. The feedback has been positive so far. Users say it offers a level of support they don't get from generic drug treatment.