Home > Vulnerable families and drug use: examining care admissions of children of parents attending an Irish drug treatment facility.

McGivern, Aidan and McDonnell, Chloe (2015) Vulnerable families and drug use: examining care admissions of children of parents attending an Irish drug treatment facility. The Irish Social Worker, Spring, pp. 17-23.

Harmful substance use has a detrimental effect on parenting and child welfare agencies consistently confirm such usage as a primary factor in initial referral. This article examines the circumstances of child admissions to care over a nine year period, from families where one or both parents attend a centralized drug treatment services. A recurrent theme during the study period was low rates of family reunifications within a twelve month period. Furthermore, we identified factors which in the view of natural parents and the service social work team have contributed significantly when families have been reunited.


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