Building Bridges for Children: Addressing the Consequences of Exposure to Drugs and to the Child Welfare System (From Substance Abuse, Family Violence, and Child Welfare: Bridging Perspectives, P 18-61, 1998, Robert L. Hampton, Vincent Senatore, et al., eds. - See NCJ-172346)

• NCJ Number: 172347
• Author(s): B J Harden
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 44 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC

Annotation

This article considers the unique needs of drug-exposed children in the child welfare system, and the interventions that facilitate their optimum development.

Abstract

The article delineates the effects of prenatal substance exposure on children's physical health, cognition, and socioemotional functioning; discusses the distinction between immediate perinatal and long-term effects; describes the environments in which these children are reared, whether in or out of state custody; and explores strategies to address the needs of these children and their caregivers. The paper addresses the substances most commonly used by illicit drug-using women of childbearing age -- tobacco (nicotine and other substances), alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and opiates (heroin and methadone). Although each substance is treated separately, the majority of drug-exposed children will have encountered multiple substances in utero. A discussion of environmental factors that impinge on the developing child includes parental functioning, dyadic relationships, maltreatment and abandonment, familial context, and poverty. References