Notifications of parental alcohol/substance abuse and their handling by a child protection body in Iceland

Abstract

The aims of this study were twofold: (1) to examine how high a proportion of the notifications to the Reykjavík Child Protection Committee (CPC) involved children that have been harmed because of their parents’ use of alcohol, illegal substances and pharmaceuticals and (2) to explore how the Reykjavík CPC responded to these families. The data, gathered from the Reykjavík CPC, consisted of notifications and journals during six months in 2010 and 2011. Thirty-one per cent of the notifications arose from substance abuse by parents. Neglect was the most common reason for notification, and almost half of those cases were alcohol or drug related. About half of the notifications came from police, health authorities and other public agencies, whereas close to half were referred to the CPC by relatives or neighbours. The CPC applied various measures to manage the needs of children whose parents abused alcohol or other substances, and the use of foster care was more common in cases involving parents abusing alcohol/drugs than in other CPC cases, indicating that the children had suffered severe harm.

Keywords:

• child protection cases
• notifications
• neglect
• parents’ substance abuse

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Ministry of Welfare, Iceland and was a part of the government initiative regarding male violence against women in intimate relationships.