Parental Substance Misuse/ Hidden Harm

Welcome to the Hidden Harm page of the Norfolk DAAT Website.

The DAAT partnership through the Norfolk Children and Young People’s Plan (2006-2009) and the Young People’s Substance Misuse Plan (2006-2007), have identified the need to push forward developments in relation to the Hidden Harm agenda in Norfolk as a key priority for action.

‘Hidden Harm – Responding to the needs of children of problem drug users’ June 2003, identified that there are between 250,000 and 350,000 children of problematic drug users within the UK and the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England 2004, estimates that 1.3 million (one in eleven) children in the UK live with parents who misuse alcohol.

For more information on Hidden Harm please download the summary document or visit www.drugs.gov.uk/publication-search/young-people
Download "Hidden Harm summary document"

In Norfolk there are two main developments that are being taken forward this year.

Children of Problematic Substance Misusing Parents Mapping/Audit Study - The Parental Substance Misuse Needs Assessment carried out by Bath University in 2007 on behalf of N-DAP was completed in December 2007; the main aims of this research were to:

• complete an audit and evaluation of current provision, working practices and systems,
• investigate and collate existing data held, estimating numbers of affected children and families and level of service need,
• make recommendations on appropriate commissioning, planning and service delivery structures for future developments, that take into account the Hidden Harm recommendations and other national frameworks.