NSPCC backs scheme to help troubled families

Social affairs correspondent

Tuesday 31 July 2012

A groundbreaking Australian programme is working with troubled families in Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire with the backing of a major children's charity.

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Stephen naysmith

The Parents under Pressure (PuP) scheme was developed to address the danger faced by young children in families where one or both parents abuse drugs or alcohol. Its roll out in the Central Belt and is being backed by NSPCC Scotland.

Based on work in Australia by Professor Sharon Dawe of Griffith University in Brisbane, the programme has shown a significant reduction in the likelihood of child abuse, but also led to a proportion of parents cutting down on their drug use and coming off methadone prescriptions. The intensive home-based programme sees NSPCC workers visiting babies and toddlers from birth up to two-and-a-half years old, who are at risk of being harmed by parents with severe drug and alcohol problems.Initially visits can be several times a week, dropping depending on need to fortnightly. Staff work with mothers and fathers to help them build parenting skills and develop strong caring relationships with their babies. They also report any signs of child abuse or neglect to children's services, while parents can phone workers for emergency support outside the home visits. Working alongside other agencies involved with the family, the system aims to help the children by helping parents, predominantly mothers.Prof Dawe said the main goal was to help parents manage their own feelings better and become more responsible parents."Often these are parents who have a lot of problems. They don't just need to know how to take care of children, but have difficulty understanding and managing their own emotions as well. We find that is often part of what drives people to use alcohol or drugs."We identify their existing strengths. We often find a mum who loves and wants the best for her baby, but is at risk of relapse, or has an ex-boyfriend or friends who are heavy drinkers. So you can try to minimise the risk while building on the positives."Results from Australia suggest the programme can result in a large reduction in the potential for child abuse, and a big improvement in parental stress. The number of families who have come off or reduced reliance on methadone programmes has also struck researchers. "We think it is perhaps because they started to feel more in control," Prof Dawe said. "This is not a programme which is promoting abstinence from methadone, but it is an interesting finding."While PuP is from the same country and indeed the same university that developed the well-used Triple P Positive Parenting Programme, its goals are very different, Prof Dawe explains."Triple P is quite a good behavioural parenting programme that helps parents manage difficult behaviour, but PuP is designed specifically for multiple-problem families under considerable stress. In child death reviews around the world parental substance use consistently shows up as a key risk factor. In an atmosphere where people are feeling overwhelmed by child protection issues, the NSPCC looked around at the world to find the best evidence-based programmes, and committed time and money to setting this up."A spokeswoman for NSPCC Scotland added: "Not all parents who drink or take drugs harm their children, but young children whose parents misuse drugs or alcohol are more likely to be abused or neglected. NSPCC wants to tackle and reduce the harm caused when parents drink or take drugs – as early as possible in children's lives."

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NSPCC backs scheme to help troubled families

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