Send email
Any questions?
CFC#12020
CFC#12020
The influence and presence of the social work profession is vast and diverse. Social workers address the needs of children and families in every walk of life, and in every arena of functioning. Family agencies, schools, health care systems, addiction treatment centers and employee assistance programs are but a few of the settings where social workers bring their skills and humanity to tackle the pressing issues in the lives of individuals, groups, and communities. Thus, the majority of social workers are in a unique practice position, rife with opportunities, to identify and assist children of alcoholics and drug dependent persons.
Indeed, COAs are often a hidden population, isolated and unidentified right before our eyes. Social workers bring a wealth of talent and commitment to the process of offering hope to the families affected by alcoholism or substance use disorders.
The schools of social work are the lifeblood of the profession. The future of social work resides in the researchers, the teachers, the innovators. It is their calling to support and inspire social workers to best practices and to the best outcomes for the populations they serve. With the vision of the schools of social work, the call has been answered to infuse the wisdom and energy of social workers to address the needs of children in families with substance use or mental health disorders. This has opened a door to incalculable benefits to many who could have continued to suffer in silence in the face of the formidable challenges of family substance use or mental health disorders. In addition to the following resources on-site training is also available through NACoA.
The school social worker supports the administrators, the teaching faculty and anyone who is in a position where close relationships with children are developed. School social workers understand the school as a system and individual children as members of family systems. The following resources were selected to enhance your knowledge and effectiveness in identifying and providing service to the children who struggle with the effects of substance use or mental health disorders in their families.
The relationships you develop with the families you encounter are the mainstay of change. As they grow to trust you, they may or may not reveal the heartache they endure when substance use or mental health disorders are at work in the family. The following resources are offered here to enhance your ability to help families struggling with substance use or mental health disorders. It is hoped that the resources offered here will help you improve the lives of more and more of the families you serve.
Each day of your professional life, you are faced with the ravages of substance use and mental health disorders. These disorders have a profound effect on all members of the families you see, but often the children suffer in silence. The following resources are provided in an effort to put tools in your hands for yourself, the children, the parents, the teachers and the many others who come to you for help. The first focus is awareness of the pervasive nature of these disorders, followed by teaching skills to the children and families who struggle with parental substance use and mental health disorders.
More than 20% of the families in the general population are affected by a host of difficulties inherent in the relationships where substance use or mental health disorders play a prominent role. As a clinical social worker serving a referred population, you know that the percentage is even higher. The following offerings were chosen to raise or enhance your awareness of the powerful effect these disorders have on children and families struggling to manage their lives in the face of such a formidable challenge. In addition to the resources listed below, on-site training is also available through NACoA.
NACoA is pleased to offer several options for professionals to complete desired and necessary training and accreditation online. Here are some of the more popular courses for Justice System Personnel, and you can click the See More link below to search, sort and view all available courses.
While NACoA provides increasing amounts of information to help children and families, especially with the broad reach of internet communications, it is not feasible to provide needed direct services to children and families across the country and around the world. Therefore, NACoA’s approach to addressing family alcohol or other drug addiction as effectively as possible is to work with a network of relationships with professional groups who serve kids on the front lines.
Primary Care Physicians see children suffering from the physical and emotional results of addiction in the family.
The Court System sees the ravages of parental addiction to alcohol and other drugs in their courtroom every day.
Social workers touch every system that seeks to help children cope with a variety of family problems, many of which are rooted in parental addiction for many generations.
Educators may notice that a child is withdrawn or unable to do school work because of the chaos at home caused by alcoholism/addiction.
Early childhood Professionals see children from birth through age three, the youngest and most vulnerable population to be affected by parental addiction.
Faith leaders are often the first to be contacted by a spouse who needs help for themselves and their children.
Working in compassionate professions that touch the lives of traumatized children and teenagers regularly can emotionally exhaust and at times physically impact the best of professionals. Depending upon the level of daily involvement, these responsibilities have the capacity to even elicit PTSD-like symptoms, especially if you grew up in a family that struggled with substance disorders that created trauma in your earlier life. It is important for anyone working in these professions to exercise appropriate self-care, and if necessary consider attending Al-Anon or Nar-Anon meetings. NACoA provides a wealth of information for those professionals who see children every day: profession-specific research, kits, books, online educational opportunities, trainings and videos to educate and support those who are in the best position to identify and assist children who live with alcohol or other addictions in the family.
Our training and program resources equip professionals and individuals with tools and knowledge to help provide support to children and families impacted by a loved one’s alcohol or drug addiction.
The library of webinars provides an archive of critical topics on addiction, its impact on the family, children and the community. The speakers are all well-known and knowledgeable subject-matter authorities, providing key insights and information for the listener. The webinars range from 1 ½ to 2 hours in length.
The library of webinars provides an archive of critical topics on addiction, its impact on the family, children and the community. The speakers are all well-known and knowledgeable subject-matter authorities, providing key insights and information for the listener. The webinars range from 1 ½ to 2 hours in length.
This NACoA-developed kit provides all the tools needed to implement educational support groups for children of clients in treatment for addiction, for educational support groups and other educational prevention activities in schools, and for support groups and educational programs in youth-serving community based and faith-based organizations.
The Celebrating Families! curriculum is an evidence-based cognitive behavioral support group model written for families in which one or both parents have a serious problem with alcohol or other drugs and in which there is a high risk for domestic violence, child abuse, or neglect.
It only takes one caring and understanding adult to change a child's life.
When a child’s family struggles with alcohol or substance misuse/addiction issues, the most powerful assistance to the child can come from a caring adult in their lives. Often the child turns to a relative or friend of the family who has acknowledged in some way that they are concerned and available, thus making it feel safe for the child to talk. It could be the mother who is terrified of what is happening to her children as she watches her husband’s addiction grow more concerning, the grandmother who knows her son has a problem with prescription drugs, the best friend who is worried about the mother who routinely is drinking to excess and passing out before dinner, the older brother who works close by and is contacted regularly because no one picked up his younger brother from basketball practice, and many others, whom the child can trust with their “biggest worry.” The goal here is to put tools in the hands of these caring family members who take on the role of caretaker so that they might do the following things:
As a result of broken promises, harsh words, and the threat of abuse, children in many families dealing with parental addiction learn the “Don’t Trust” mantra all too well; silence and isolation can become constant companions. Perhaps the most important gift is the bonding and attachment children attain in healthy relationships with others.
In their book The Resilient Self, Drs. Sybil and Steven Wolin describe "Relationships" as an integral part of the Resilience Mandala.
In her ground-breaking research, Dr. Emmy Werner noted that resilient COAs often had a nurturing adult in their lives. Building trust is a process, not an event; time is the key. Simply caring about a child is all that it takes to start. Listening, regular time together, playing with, validating, respecting, and empowering a youngster will build a positive connection.
Jerry Moe, national director of the Betty Ford Center Children's Programs, often reminds us that "children don't care about how much adults know until they know how much adults care."
There simply can’t be resilient children unless caring adults lead the way. As bonding grows, a nurturing adult’s words take on added meaning and significance as the youngster deeply considers the source. A child may hear accurate information about alcoholism in a brand new way. Moreover, a kid can build upon his or her strengths and resilience as a result of the conscious modeling provided by that caring adult.
Whether we have children of our own or not, many of us can become a nurturing adult in a young child’s life. A youngster desperately in need of such an alliance is very close by. Downloading and reading through the Kit for Kids with a child is a great start to helping them cope with their situation.
Most people are uncomfortable with the idea of approaching someone about problem drinking. But when a child’s well being is at stake, you may be the one to begin the process of reaching out to the problem drinker.
The Road to Recovery series, provided by the SAMHSA Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, features eight episodes focused on the field of recovery. Click here for a special episode dealing with intergenerational issues, and the hope that early intervention can bring for years to come.
At times, the best efforts to help the person struggling with alcohol and/or drugs are not met with a willingness to acknowledge and understand what is happening to him/her and heart-wrenching deterioration in the addicted person — physically, spiritually and socially — continues. The increased concern, anger, and feeling of helplessness grows as the family experiences alienation from the person they love who, in their view it seems, is choosing a relationship with alcohol over one with them.
Watching a person struggle with addiction is incredibly painful. Denial can be strong, shielding a person from admitting that the addiction is affecting day to day living, performance at work, and/or the family. It is often thought that it requires significant challenge – losing a job, one’s family, a tragic accident or experience – to “wake up” a person to the truth that there is a problem. This epiphany, it is believed, results in a commitment to treatment and recovery. Unfortunately, the desperation at this level of challenge can make successful recovery appear insurmountable, and actually may be too late for effective behavioral change. Instead, structured family intervention with the assistance of a professional can help lead a loved one to accept help and the possibility of recovery, before such devastation occurs.
