To list members - information sought.

 In Scotland, the Getting Our Priorities Right agenda is moving v. fast &, beyond the expectation that the protection & wellbeing of children is significantly improved, we are moving into unexplored territory with regard to exactly what services for adults should do in practice, particularly where those services do not see the children & do not normally make home visits. I am assuming similar dilemmas are emerging south of the border.

 Part of my work involves taking GoPR forward in Aberdeenshire & we have engaged with relevant adult services which have made v. significant strides to take the issue forward in their practice. However, adult services becoming more aware of risks to children, trying to investigate any identified concerns & liaising with others involved regarding such concerns falls well short of systemmatically ensuring that the well being of ALL the children of adult service users is given full consideration. My summary of the current position is that we have reached a halfway house. The future seems to me to be to develop services for adults of which an integrated part would be an ongoing assessment [leading to service provision as required] of the needs of, & risks to, all children those adults are responsible for. This would require combining interventions for adults with a full family orientated service involving children's workers, home visiting etc. There are v. real risks in developing such provision, particularly that some adults might avoid coming forward, thereby making their children even less accessible. The costs across all adult services would be v. substantial.

I would see such an approach covering both services for adults with alcohol problems as well as services for drug users [the agenda in Scotland is focussing on the latter, which will surprise no one].

 I am very interested to hear from anyone as to whether such holistic services exist at all in the UK &, if they do, to speak to anyone involved in such services as we are begining to consider the possibility of piloting such an approach within one or two major services for adults. I would stress that I am not thinking about specialist, small scale projects for drug/alcohol using families, of which a number exist, but of mainstream, large scale services for adults which also provide a systemmatic approach to comprehensively addressing the needs of the children of all their service users.

I would v. much appreciate help with this. I can be contacted either on [log in to unmask] or [tuesday, wed, thursdays] on 01224 664982.

George Allan