A new report reveals today, Children of alcoholics are ‘suffering in silence’ because of a lack of support. The study found not a single council in England offers specific help for the “innocent victims” of alcohol. Members of Parliament have demanded a national action plan.
Evidence shows that not one council in England offers specific help for the estimated 2.5 million children being brought up by parents with alcohol use disorder.
MPs said the findings were a ‘national scandal’ and demanded a national action plan to help the “innocent victims” of booze.
The report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Children of Alcoholics found no local authority in England had a set strategy for supporting and helping children of alcoholics. Even worse, the report found, 33% of the local councils are set to cut support for alcohol and other drug addiction programs, despite the fact that 70% of them have seen an increase in alcohol-related hospital admissions. Some local authorities manage to refer merely 0.4% of those who need help to treatment.
Source: Daily Mirror
An estimated 2.5 million children – one in five – live with a hazardous alcohol user and 705,000 live with a dependent alcohol user. Evidence shows that children of alcoholics are three times more likely to consider suicide and five times more likely to develop eating disorders.
The All-Party Group is launching a campaign today called Break The Silence to Break The Cycle and is being backed by MPs and peers from all political parties.
- Local authorities and health services to identify children of alcoholics and offer them support.
- An information campaign aimed at heavy alcohol consuming parents to warn them of the damage they could be doing to their children and
- Greater investment in services to help alcoholic mums and dads.
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For further reading:
All Party Parliamentary Group on Alcohol Misuse: MANIFESTO 2015
