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CFC#12020
CFC#12020
NACoA’s mission is to eliminate the adverse impact of alcohol and drug use on children and families.
NACoA’s mission is to eliminate the adverse impact of alcohol and drug use on children and families.
Using our network of the most respected experts in the field, we provide solutions to address these impacts effectively. NACoA envisions a world in which no child who struggles because of family addiction will be left unsupported.
If you are dealing with a parent who abuses alcohol or drugs — or have a relative or friend who does — we’re here to help. NACoA offers resources for everyone, including providing support for professionals with tools and training in order to better support individuals in pain due to alcohol and drug dependency in their families. We offer a variety of programs and products uniquely designed to offer support and assist you at home or in the workplace.
NACoA is the only national membership organization focusing on the children of parents struggling with alcohol or substance abuse. Additionally, we are working internationally through affiliates in Great Britain, Germany, Poland, New Zealand, and Brazil.
are touched by the adverse effects of a parent abusing alcohol or drugs. We are the voice for these children, and have been for over 30 years. We are fueled by a deep and abiding passion to break the silence for millions of families entrapped by the "no talk" rule. We work to ensure that they can find their own voice, and by sharing their experiences find the hope and healing they deserve.
A 501(c)(3) membership organization which includes national, regional, and international affiliate groups and cooperative relationships with partner organizations
A national center for information, education, and advocacy for Children of Addiction (COAs) of all ages, providing the latest research information through culturally and linguistically sensitive materials
A policy and program development center that obtains input from expert scientists, opinion leaders, policy makers, practitioners, and leaders in systems that impact children's lives
A central point of input for children’s health and welfare advocates and service providers who address populations of COAs
We are youth workers, coaches, volunteers, grandparents, and neighbors who wanted to help a hurting child we cared about and came to NACoA for guidance because we didn’t know what to do. NACoA helped us and now we are giving back to help others.
We are concerned professionals—doctors, social workers, attorneys, teachers, family counselors, early childhood professionals, developmental psychologists, clergy, and pastoral counselors—who see the painful consequences of growing up with an alcoholic or drug dependent parent.
We are adult children of alcoholic parents who struggled in silence to make sense of what was irrational, unpredictable and frightening for too many days of our childhood, and we want it to be better for today’s and tomorrow’s children.
We are college students and other young adults who have realized that keeping silent all our growing up years didn’t fix anything at home, and we want to help break the silence and reach thousands of others through social media to have a little more hope and safety than we had.
A diverse group of professionals and volunteers committed to bringing healing to children and families with addiction, our affiliates are NACoA’s eyes, ears, and heart. Click below to learn more about our affiliates, including how you too can bring hope to children around the country and globe.
Click on the questions below to find the answers you need.
NACoA programs and materials are based on solid science and are effective. They provide the needed tools and education to those who are in contact with children on a daily basis — teachers, physicians, social workers, faith communities, court personnel. They also provide information and supportive material directly to children and families who are struggling with the impact of addiction. As a result, they reduce the number of children whose lives are disrupted by a family member’s alcohol or drug use, and they promote resilience in the children who are impacted.
NACoA’s extensive experience and its authoritative advisors guide the ongoing quality and effectiveness of its programs.
NACoA-developed programs and materials bring great relief to children when they come to understand their parent’s illness and that the problems in the family are not their fault.
The programs free them to develop more normally and devote their attention to being children instead of maintaining a focus on coping with the chronic stress in the family.
Children who attend these programs are known to improve their school attendance and school performance and experience an improvement in the quality of their lives.
This problem touches just about everyone in one way or another. In your neighborhood or among your children’s friends, one in four may be hiding their embarrassment, confusion, hurt or shame about what’s going on at home.
Why NACoA?
One in four children in the US is exposed to alcohol or drug dependence in their family, frequently creating enormous obstacles to normal development, health and safety.
Every second of every hour of every day, two children are born into families with an alcohol or drug problem.
NACoA is a voice for these children and advocates for them by influencing public policy and the systems that serve children to recognize the issues involved and intervene appropriately.
NACoA provides effective programs and training, putting tools in the hands of tens of thousands of health care, school, judicial, social services and faith organization professionals who come into contact with these children, so that they are prepared to provide needed information and support.
NACoA has a central and sole focus on the children of addicted parents, unlike other groups that promote children’s health and well-being in other ways.
These children are voiceless due to the shame, isolation, confusion and family dysfunction that accompany family addiction.
NACoA offers the following services:
NACoA works with many national colleague groups, and periodically participates on a broad range of expert panels that deal with issues of importance to NACoA, such as: FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder), school-based prevention programs, clergy education programs, prevention core competencies panels, advisory groups, and the Addiction Leadership Group. NACoA participates in various commissions under the Department of Health and Human Services – always with a focus on the inclusion of support for children and families impacted by alcohol use disorder and/or other drug dependencies. Visit Colleague Organizations for some of the groups with whom NACoA collaborates from time to time on issues and projects of mutual interest.
Although NACoA has a unique mission as the voice for children affected by addiction, it shares common cause with these groups that work to increase support for research, services, and policies that address this major cause of pain, suffering, and economic consequences. These organizations represent scientific, professional, educational, and advocacy groups. Together we work to present a unified perspective, based on scientific evidence, to advance public understanding and effective policy development, and to support research, prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts across the nation.
Child abuse and neglect frequently accompany family alcohol or drug problems.
The financial cost of excessive drinking exceeded $249 billion in the most recent study. That comes to about $1.90 for each drink.
If your question isn’t answered here, or elsewhere in the website, please contact us.
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.
