Substance Misusing Parents Project
KCA's Substance Misusing Parents' Service is a joint initiative with Thanet and Dover Social Services Children and Families teams. The project works with families in which there are substance misuse issues which put the children at risk of harm, so that the risk can be reduced and the families be kept together with the benefit of reducing the number of Looked After children and the numbers of children on the child protection register.
The project is targeted at four main groups of parents:
- Parents with a child or children on the Child Protection Register where parental substance misuse is a factor
- Parents with a child at risk of becoming looked after, again where substance misuse is a characteristic
- Parents who are using drugs or alcohol in a way that is affecting their ability to parent adequately
- Women who are pregnant and whose substance use may be harmfully affecting their baby
Longer term benefits of the project for the children include improved educational outcomes through better attendance, behaviour and achievement and improved developmental progress for pre-school children.