CHILDREN living in families affected by drug abuse will receive assistance as part of a new program to ensure they attend school and are properly cared for.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Families in Orange, Forbes, Parkes and Peak Hill will receive support from Kids in Focus, launched by The Lyndon Community and The Benevolent Society.
The program will help parents trying to overcome substance abuse while caring for their children at home.
Up to 16 families at a time will be offered in-home drug and alcohol counselling and parenting support.
The program will also link families to other drug and alcohol, family and child protection services.
“We’ll work closely with families for up to 12 months and we’ll be determining the needs of the children and where they need help,” child and family worker Louise Hawke said.
“It may be school, it may be general living support, it could be assisting families within schools and other services while they try to manage their substance abuse.”
Lyndon Community research manager Dr Julaine Allan said the program was launched after researchers identified a need for drug and alcohol programs that included children and families.
“Substance abuse programs tend to work with adults and don’t address the way substance abuse affects families and children,” she said.
“Very often they [the children] lead chaotic sorts of lives.
“There’s financial issues, housing issues, kids have problems getting to school and getting homework done because very often a lot of the parent’s time is taken up by finding that substance.”
Dr Allan said parents who wanted to give up their drug use often struggled to do so because they couldn’t find a withdrawal program that allowed them to manage their family at the same time.
“This will allow them to stay at home and support them to address their substance abuse and look after their children at the same time,” she said.
