Addiction services, such as harm reduction or treatment programmes, have proved effective in addressing the needs of people who use drugs, however it is not clear whether or not they are capable of providing clients' children with the interventions they need. These services need to adapt to the realities of each person, this is why it is now established that a gender sensitive approach ought to be developed to address the specific needs of women. In the same way, we thought it would be interesting to look at how addiction services take children's rights into account, and how to promote the children's rights perspective in these services. With this in mind, Dianova conducted a survey to gather information about how children's needs are being addressed in addiction services for adults. Out of the 39 people that answered the survey, most respondents were directors or coordinators of drug-related services. Participants provided information about service users in outpatient and residential treatment programmes, as well as in harm reduction services.

Participants note that service users talk about their children on a regular basis and half of the respondents mention having discussed the issue of children's custody with their beneficiaries. They also say that men and women tend to behave differently with their children. In addition, mothers are usually stigmatized for using drugs despite being the primary caregivers for children. Conversely, fathers appear to be often absent, and when they happen to take child rearing initiatives, they tend to receive more praise for doing so than women. With regards to violence, it appears to be committed by both genders, with women being more prone to neglect, and men to physical violence.

Parents with substance use disorders usually spend less time caring for their children who, as a result, tend to lag behind in terms of education, social life and hygiene standards. What these children experience most is neglect, followed by the necessity of taking care of themselves and their siblings due to their parents' incapacity to assume their responsibilities. Some families however do seek help from third parties to meet their children's needs – acknowledging their inability to do so – showing therefore a willingness to give them a fair chance in life. Mothers are more willing to ask for help than men, as they tend to behave more responsibly with their children. As a result, grandparents are often those who end up taking care of the latter.