Family drug and alcohol court (FDAC)

Our family drug and alcohol court (FDAC) service aims to help parents stabilise/stop using drugs/alcohol and, where possible, to keep families together.

Instead of the usual care proceedings court process, a family chosen for the FDAC process goes through a very different process set up to help tackle drug and alcohol problems.

It involves coordinating a range of services so that your family’s needs, concerns and strengths are all taken into account.

The aim is for everyone to work towards the best possible outcome for your children  a stable and safe family that is able to stay together. 

Assessment 

A comprehensive assessment takes place during the first week of the court process that includes looking at your family strengths as well as concerns. The assessment takes into account any existing information and looks at your current needs. 

Our family drug and alcohol court team can help tackle issues around your:

• drug and/or alcohol use
  
• physical and mental health
  
• relationships with your children and other family members
  
• parenting
  
• issues with housing
  
• issues with domestic violence 

The team puts in place a range of services in your borough of residence to meet your needs.

A parent mentor is present during the court and assessment period to provide you with support, encouragement and reassurance. Following the assessment a parent mentor may be assigned to your family. This person has similar experiences to yours and can offer you encouragement and advice.

Treatment

Depending on what the assessment recommends, the court can monitor what our family drug and alcohol court team identifies, and refer you quickly to an appropriate treatment provider for counselling, community prescribing or inpatient detoxification and rehabilitation.

There may be access to family therapy, group therapy or video work with parents and children. 

Team

We have experts with different specialties who work together to assess and treat our patients. Our team includes a service manager, clinical nurse specialist, specialist substance misuse worker, senior social worker and social worker. A child and adolescent psychiatrist, adult psychiatrist and family therapist are attached to the team. 

We have direct links to the housing and domestic violence teams in local authorities. 

National unit

The family drug and alcohol court (FDAC) national unit aims to extend the benefits of the FDAC approach to more children and families. Further information is available on the FDAC national unit website.