“Parental drug use does not automatically put a child
at serious risk of harm” … Dr Stephanie Taplin, a visiting fellow at
the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. Photo: Rebecca Hallas

MANY mothers with a history of serious drug use are
still capable of caring for their children, given the right support, a
new study has found. But most mothers in the state’s methadone programs
were not getting the services they needed.

The study found a child was more at risk of abuse or
neglect because of a mother’s mental health problems and social
isolation than from the drug problem itself. ”You can’t say all
drug-using parents are abusive; some are quite together,” said the
co-author of the study, Stephanie Taplin, a visiting fellow at the
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.

Dr Taplin interviewed 171 mothers who attended methadone
programs in Sydney over three years. Nearly all had been heroin users,
and 37 were still using the drug. Many were caring for children but a
third had at least one child under 16 removed by Community Services;
about half had been given up at birth.

Dr Taplin found mothers, regardless of the severity of
their drug problem, were less likely to have children removed if they
were in daily contact with their own mothers, were not on medication for
mental health problems such as depression and had fewer children.

”Parental drug use does not automatically put a child at
serious risk of harm. It’s important to look at the whole picture,
including the level of dependence, the type of drug used, and if they
use around the children,” she said.

But some women had told her Community Services expected
total abstinence for them to be able to keep their children or have them
returned. ”In some cases, it was clear the decision to remove the
children was right, in some cases it seemed harsh,” she said.

The study found women who attended methadone programs in
the Redfern-Waterloo area were much more likely to have had children
removed after notification to the local Community Services office than
were women in other parts of Sydney – 50 per cent compared with 29 per
cent.

Dr Taplin said that the disparity should be investigated,
given the women did not appear to differ in any important
characteristics.

The study, with Professor Richard Mattick, found most
women on the methadone program were not getting the mental health
services and social support they needed.

”We should be doing more to reduce the high rates of
intergenerational abuse, trauma and disadvantage,” Dr Taplin said.
”The provision of women-only services is critical.”

The women, average age 37, came from deeply disadvantaged
backgrounds, the study found. Two-thirds had experienced physical or
sexual abuse, and more than a third an ”upsetting sexual experience
with a relative or person in authority”. On average the abuse had
occurred at age 10.

Dr Taplin said all girls who suffered sexual abuse needed
access to intensive psychological help. They were at higher risk of
mental health problems, drug abuse, teenage pregnancy and removal of
their children. ”More has to be done for these young women before they
become mothers,” Dr Taplin said.

Removal of children would not stop intergenerational harm as many gravitated back to their mothers from care.

The overwhelming proportion of mothers said the methadone program had improved their parenting abilities.

Source: www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/addicts-arent-necessarily-bad-mothers-study-finds-20111204-1odfa.html