Children living in families affected by substance dependence may experience a wide array of feelings and situations, such as anger, fear, isolation from their peers, parental neglect, as well as be victims or witnesses of domestic and sexual violence. While not all parents face difficulties in handling substance dependence and taking care of themselves and dependent children at the same time, some families may require support from the community and social services. The project of the Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe, “Children whose parents use drugs”, lies at the intersection of children rights to the realization of their full potential and the rights of parents with substance dependence to trauma-informed treatment and stigma-free social and health services which take their parental responsibilities into account.
