Substance misusing parents and their children: an interview with Christine Fewell, Ph.D., LCSW, CASAC and Joan Blakey, Ph.D., MSW

Parental substance misuse is correlated with child maltreatment and negative outcomes. Researchers have found that parents who misuse drugs and/or alcohol are more likely to abuse and/or neglect their children than parents who do not misuse substances (Chaplin & Sinha, 2013; Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2013). Maltreated children of substance abusing parents are at greater risk of developing poorer physical, emotional, educational, and social outcomes (Staton-Tindall, Sprang, Clark, Walker, & Craig, 2013). Additionally, parental substance misuse also is closely related with involvement in the child welfare system. That is, maltreated children who are from substance misusing families are more likely to be placed in foster care than maltreated children from non-substance misusing families (Correia, 2013; IOM, 2013). Moreover, researchers have found that children of parents with substance use disorders (SUDs) are more likely to develop their own SUD in adolescence (Straussner & Fewell, 2018). In recent years, the opioid epidemic is also well recognized as a public health crisis, but its impact on children whose parents are addicted has received little attention (Brundage & Levine, 2019). This interview discusses the issue of substance-misusing parents and their children from the perspectives of two experts: Drs. Christine Fewell and Joan Blakey. Dr. Fewell is an Adjunct Professor at New York University and has extensive experience in working with individuals with substance abuse problems and their families. She discusses the issue through a treatment lens. Dr. Blakey is an Associate Professor at Tulane University and is an expert in trauma and substance abuse among women who are involved in the child protection and criminal justice systems. She discusses the issue through a child welfare lens.