Parental Substance Abuse : Criminal or Abuse History, Parenting Skills

by Child Welfare Information Gateway

(Page 6 of 10)

Criminal History

Because chronic substance abuse often entails contact with law enforcement agencies, reviewing a parent's criminal record is an important part of the assessment process. Professionals should determine the following:

• Does the parent have a criminal record? If so, what was the charge?
• Is the parent currently on probation or parole?
• Has the parent ever served time in jail or prison? Parental incarcerations mean that a child has been separated from a parent and also may have been left with nonparental caregivers.

Exploration of a criminal history can help the professional gain further information about the parent's lifestyle and about unhealthy situations and illegal activities to which children in the family may have been exposed. Further, information about how the family handled periods of incarceration (including visitation and reunification) can help the professional determine family members' sensitivity to the child's feelings and need for security.

Level of Cooperation

Parents' willingness to work with professionals to strengthen the family and protect their children is of considerable importance. A parent who initially seems disinterested, evasive, or hostile may, in fact, prove uncooperative with service/treatment plans. However, here, as in all other areas of assessment, clinical judgment is extremely important. A parent's initial uncooperativeness may also indicate feelings of guilt about substance abuse and defensiveness about the assessment process. Parents may be angry or feel vulnerable because of the power differential between themselves and the professional, and they may perceive a loss of control. Parents also may be fearful of legal consequences. To evaluate cooperation, professionals should consider the following areas:

• Does the parent verbalize a willingness to work with the agency?
• Does the parent generally follow through with various aspects of the service/treatment plan?

Subsequent behavior and follow through are critical in accurately evaluating cooperation. A parent may appear to be compliant and yet, in fact, may be unable or unwilling to meaningfully engage in the service/treatment plan.

Awareness of the Impact of Alcohol and Other Drug Use on the Child

It is important to assess parents' understanding of the relationship between their substance abuse and their children's care. Parents' willingness to acknowledge the impact of their substance abuse may indicate their receptivity to services for themselves as well as for their children. Professionals should consider the following:

If the parents were under the influence when the suspected child abuse or neglect occurred, and this was a contributing factor, do the parents acknowledge this relationship, and are they willing to make the changes necessary to avoid repeated injury or neglect?

How have the parents provided for their children's needs in situations of relapse? It is helpful to determine whether parents have exercised the judgment to leave their children in the care of responsible relatives or friends, or whether the children have been left with strangers or brought along with the parents into dangerous situations.

In cases of prenatal substance abuse, how do the parents view the infant's symptoms? Initially, parents may deny that symptoms or developmental problems exist. Although this initial denial can serve as a protective coping mechanism for parents, continual denial may interfere with the parents' obtaining needed services for their children.

Parenting Skills and Responsiveness to Child

Evaluation of parents' caregiving skills and responsiveness to their children's needs is a particularly critical aspect of the assessment process. Because many chemically involved parents themselves were poorly parented as children, they may lack healthy role models for parenting their own children. The professional can obtain much information by listening sensitively to parental comments and by observing parent-child interactions. Such information can help the professional determine the need for parents' involvement in parenting education programs or individualized counseling.

How do the parents react to the children's behavior? How do they provide praise and discipline? Are the parents' expectations age-appropriate? When the parents' expectations are incongruent with the children's capacities or when parents are prone to extremes in physical discipline, the children's risk for abuse may be increased.

How do the parents respond to their children's emotional needs? For example, how do the parents respond to the children's crying? Do the parents and children make eye contact? For a hospitalized child, how frequent are parental visits? Such information may be used to determine the need for therapeutic counseling and educational services to strengthen the attachment between parent and child.

History of Abuse and/or Neglect

Chemically involved parents may already be involved with child welfare agencies, have children in foster care, or have suspected or substantiated histories of child abuse or neglect. Professionals need to determine the following:

Have there been previous child abuse or neglect investigations, substantiated reports of abuse or neglect, and/or other children under juvenile court jurisdiction? The facts surrounding these situations should be obtained and integrated into the total assessment so that plans and decisions can be made on the basis of long-term patterns rather than on the basis of an isolated and perhaps ambiguous situation. The professional will need to contact appropriate child CPS agencies for this information.

If the parents have other children in out-of-home care, what were the reasons for placement? What arrangements have professionals made to support parental visitation? What has the parents' level of participation with these children been? Do the parents phone or visit the children? Do they respond appropriately to their children and the foster parents during home visits? Have the parents ever visited while under the influence?

Work History and Education

Information regarding parents' work histories and educational backgrounds can help professionals better understand the parents' level of literacy and survival skills as well as the extent to which their substance abuse has had an impact on their day-to-day responsibilities.

• What are the parents' occupations? When were the parents last employed?
• What are the parents' educational levels? How do they describe their school years? Do the parents have difficulty with reading, writing, and/or comprehension? This is critical to understanding parents' ability to function within community programs and will help the professional minimize barriers to appropriate treatment and services.

About the Author

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Formerly the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families. A service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.