In the Borders there are an estimated 1,306 children and young people affected by substance misuse within the family. The Borders Drug & Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) has, over recent years, become increasingly aware of concerns around the impact of parental drug and alcohol misuse on children and young people. Assessing this problem has been a very complex process, and due to the varying levels of awareness and activity between agencies, has been impossible to determine exact numbers of children and families affected in this way.
However, this Borders assessment, carried out between November 2002 and February 2003, has attempted to identify the nature and estimate the extent of the problem locally, examine how agencies are currently responding to the issue, and identify what initiatives may need to be put in place to support an improvement in services for children and contains recommendations based on the findings of this research.