REHABILIATING DRUG ABUSERS AND ALCOHOLICS BREAKS THE CHAIN OF CHILD ABUSE

Substance abuse and child abuse are inseparably linked. Nationally, statistics show that drug or alcohol abuse is frequently present in cases of child abuse. Additionally, abused children of substance abusers more frequently grow up to be substance abusers themselves who then, in turn, abuse their children. In the U.S., the increase in substance abuse has led to a seriously overstrained child welfare system as case workers and courts try to rescue children in life-threatening situations of drug-related maltreatment.

A report from Prevent Child Abuse America reports that among confirmed cases of child maltreatment, 40% involve the use of alcohol or other drugs. Further, this report estimates that the annual number of children abused by a drug- or alcohol-using caretaker approaches half a million. Heartbreaking stories of neglect and abuse by substance-abusing caretakers can be found in every state in the Union, ranging from children being locked in closets while their parents seek drugs to the baby who was given cocaine to silence her cries and the infants whose cribs are in the same room as the methamphetamine labs.

Methamphetamine presents a unique danger to children since the drug can be manufactured at home fairly easily. Small domestic labs are common in many rural areas, and children found near these labs are often contaminated with chemicals used in the manufacture of the drug or show exposure to the drug itself. In recent years, the number of children found to have been exposed to meth lab chemicals has increased four-fold.

According to the National Association of Counties, in 58% of the counties in the U.S., law enforcement personnel state that meth is their largest drug problem. In the same report, child welfare officials stated that out of home placements increased 40% in 2004 due to meth abuse. In Montana, meth abuse accounts for 55% of all foster care placements. In Tennessee, meth-related foster care referrals doubled, and in Iowa, they increased 49%, according to the website Stateline.org.

The link between substance abuse and child abuse is so clear and the problem is so pervasive that many states have established agencies that specifically deal with Drug Endangered Children. More than thirty states have passed laws creating stiff penalties for those who possess or abuse drugs around children, or who allow children to be present around the manufacture or trafficking of drugs.

“April is Child Abuse Prevention Month which makes it the perfect time to focus on a major source of this tragedy,” stated Ryan Thorpe, Admissions Director of Narconon Arrowhead, one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers in Canadian, Oklahoma. “Children are our greatest treasures. They are our future. That future will be as good or bad as our children are treated well or abused. By saving addicts, you improve the worlds in which so many children live. Rehabilitating addicts breaks the chain of abuse that commonly reaches from one generation to the next.

“When we graduate a former addict from the program at Narconon, we know the positive effects of that rehabilitation will ripple out through the person’s family and community. Thus by handling the devastation of drug addiction, we save our families and our society.”

---