Substance abuse and serious child mistreatment: Prevalence, risk, and outcome in a court sample

This study examined the prevalence and specific types of substance abuse in a sample of 206 cases of serious child abuse or neglect brought before a metropolitan juvenile court on care and protection petitions. In 43% of the cases, at least one of the parents had a documented problem with either alcohol or drugs, a figure which rose to 50% when alleged instances of substance abuse were included. Alcohol, cocaine, and heroin were the three most frequently mentioned abused substances. Parents with documented substance abuse were significantly more likely than nonsubstance-abusing parents to have been referred previously to child protective agencies, to be rated by court investigators as presenting high risk to their children, to reject court-ordered services, and to have their children permanently removed. When the two factors of court investigator high risk ratings and presence of parental substance abuse were combined, it was possible to obtain even higher levels of prediction of which parents would reject services and have their children permanently removed. Results suggest (1) the importance of increased screening, evaluation, and treatment of parental substance abuse in cases of serious child mistreatment; and (2) the possibility of adopting a predictive approach as to which families will be able to respond to court-ordered treatment requests and have their children returned. Cette étude examine la prévalence et les types spécifiques de toxicomanies dans un échantillon de 206 cas de mauvais traitements ou de négligence grave d'enfants portés devant un Tribunal de la Jeunesse métropolitain pour demande de protection et de prise en charge. Pour 43%, il existait un problème avéré d'alcool ou de drogue chez au moins un des parents, une incidence qui montait à 50% lorsqu'on incluait la suspicion d'une toxicomanie. L'alcool, la cocaine et l'héröine étaient les trois drogues les plus fréquemment citées. Les parents toxicomanes avérés avaient significativement plus de risque que les parents non toxicomanes d'avoir été signalés antérieurement aux instances de protection de la jeunesse, d'être considérés par les enquêteurs judiciaires comme à haut risque pour leurs enfants, de refuser les guidances imposées par le Tribunal et de voir leurs enfants leur être enlevés de manière permanente. Le rejet de guidance par les parents et l'éloignement permanent des enfants étaient encore plus prévisibles lorsque la toxicomanie coëxistait avec l'évaluation à haut risque par