DRUG ORPHANS: FAMILIES SPLIT BY PARENTS' ADDICTIONS

A GROWING number of parents with drug and alcohol problems are losing
their children to State care.

Department of Family and Children's Services executive Bill Budiselik
said the number of children in care had reached a peak of more than
1500 in November. He said 68 per cent were under 10 years of age.

Mr Budiselik said the escalation was linked to increasing drug use by
parents and was evident in care and protection order applications made
to the Children's Court by the department.

About two-thirds of applications cited parental drug use as an issue
of concern, up from about one-third of applications at the start of
the decade.

The drug use related to both illegal and legal substances and was
having an impact on children's welfare.

"These are substantially heavy users," he said.Opposition family and
children's services spokesman Alan Carpenter said parental drug use
was an increasing problem in city and rural areas and had long-term
impacts.

"If kids are brought up in a stressful environment where they are not
getting the sort of home support they need they start to exhibit
behavioural problems," he said.

WA Substance Users Association manager Tamara Speed said it was wrong
to assume all drug users were bad parents. It was important to support
families rather than separate children from parents. "If there are
problems the Government should be increasing funds in residential
rehabilitation available for whole families," she said.

WA Drug Abuse Strategy Office policy development and coordination
manager Melanie Hands said some people with drug and alcohol problems
could raise children.

"Obviously it's an issue for Family and Children's Services in terms
of ongoing risk for young children," she said.

The drug abuse office focused on increased support to families.

A spokeswoman for Family and Children's Services Minister June van de
Klashorst said the department was strongly committed to keeping
families together but there were times when children had to be taken
into care.

Department figures show 21 per cent of children entered care because
of maltreatment, 16 per cent because of care giver illness and 12 per
cent because they could not get adequate care.

A further 12 per cent went into care due to behavioural problems or
conflict and 15 per cent to give parents temporary respite. There were
a range of other reasons.

Family and Children's Services metropolitan service delivery executive
Lex McCulloch said the number of children entering care for sexual or
physical abuse was declining.

"Drugs are a big issue. We are seeing an increase in kids coming in to
care for reasons of neglect," he said.

"That neglect is linked to drug issues or drug-induced psychosis
issues. The parents love their kids but just can't care adequately for
them."

A Child's Words Tell Tale

"DO you shoot up?"

It was a question Sheena Bennett did not expect to hear from one of
her former foster children.

But it highlighted the plight of an increasing number of children going
into foster care from families torn apart by drug and alcohol abuse.

Mrs Bennett, who has fostered more than 35 children in the past 10
years, said the problem had escalated in the past five years.

It was especially heartbreaking seeing babies affected by their
mother's drinking and drug-taking.

"There are increasing numbers of babies coming into care who are drug
and alcohol affected," she said. "Babies are being born that way.

"Mums are drinking and taking drugs."

She said parental drug use had an impact on children in a number of
ways because they were neglected.

"It stays with them," she said. "They steal food, hoard food in the
drawers and the wardrobe."

She believed parental drug use would have long-term effects on
children's health and development.

People who took drugs should not have children. "Don't give them a
life sentence," she said.

There should be more education in schools about drug and alcohol use.

Foster Care Association of WA vice-president Fay Alford said the
number of children needing care from families with drug and alcohol
problems had grown. There was a shortage of foster carers, with many
carers taking in more than one child at a time.