New measures for children living with alcoholic parents

The Department of Health and Social Care has announced new plans to provide children living with alcoholic parents fast access to support alongside aids to identify at-risk children more quickly.

£6 million of joint funding from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Work and Pensions is designed to help an estimated 200,000 children in England living with alcohol-dependent parents, providing fast access to support and mental health services for children and their families where there is a dependent drinker.

The plans will also allow for quicker identification of at-risk children, including those undertaking inappropriate care responsibilities, and early intervention programmes to reduce the numbers of children needing to go into care.

Local authorities will be invited to bid for funding, with priority given to areas where more children are affected. The investment follows government spend last year of £500,000 to expand national helplines for children with alcoholic parents.

Announcing the plans, Jeremy Hunt, Health and Social Care Secretary, said: “The consequences of alcohol abuse are devastating for those in the grip of an addiction–but for too long, the children of alcoholic parents have been the silent victims. This is not right, nor fair. These measures will ensure thousands of children affected by their parent’s alcohol dependency have access to the support they need and deserve.

“Some things matter much more than politics, and I have been moved by my Labour counterpart Jon Ashworth’s bravery in speaking out so honestly about life as the child of an alcoholic. I pay tribute to him and MPs with similar experiences across the House who have campaigned so tenaciously to turn their personal heartache into a lifeline for children in similar circumstances today.”

Public Health Minister Steve Brine added: “All children deserve to feel safe—and it is a cruel reality that those growing up with alcoholic parents are robbed of this basic need. Exposure to their parent’s harmful drinking leaves children vulnerable to a host of problems both in childhood and later in life—and it is right that we put a stop to it once and for all. I look forward to working with local authorities and charities to strengthen the services that make a real difference to young people and their families.”