To foster more discussion between practitioners and scholars, this book explores unified approaches for prevention of, and treatment for, children in abusive situations and their parents.

The contributors probe: the history of abusive behaviour and intoxication; the research literature on drug-exposed children in the welfare system and the interventions that facilitate their optimum development; the legislative and policy contexts in which potential collaborations between the fields of substance abuse and child welfare are being deployed or abandoned; the damaging effects that parental and family substance abuse add to a host of child welfare problems; the need for clinicians to develop a sound therapeutic foundation to enhance their effectiveness with clients; and what can be done within drug-abuse treatment systems to develop services that directly affect the quality of life for children living with a drug-dependent parent.