Family Drug and Alcohol Court
The Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) is a collaboration between Coram and The Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust, and commissioned by Camden, Islington and Westminster Councils.
Drawing on work from the USA, the FDAC provides support to families trying to break the cycle of substance addiction. The court uses specialist judges who encourage and motivate parents as they progress through the programme, and a specialist team to work intensively with the families.
The project works with both parents and children to help them through the process. As well as assessing needs, the FDAC links the family to local services that will help them stay out of environments where substance abuse is the norm.
The Family Drug and Alcohol court’s aims are:
1. More children reunited with parents
2. Parents able to access and maintain treatment for substance misuse
3. Parents succeeding in achieving and maintaining controlled substance use or abstinence
4. Parents addressing related difficulties (e.g. mental health, domestic violence, housing, family
planning)
5. Children achieving positive outcomes as defined in the Every Child Matters agenda.
6. When children cannot return home, their futures will be decided more quickly
The FDAC team is recruiting parent mentors into the programme to work with parents referred to the court. These volunteers who have tackled their own substance misuse draw on their experiences to support other parents.
A press release on the launch of FDAC is available on Camden Council’s website
For further information on FDAC, please contact Sophie Kershaw via our contact page
Families can download more information here.
Professionals can download more information here.
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