Joining Forces For Children
Joining Forces for Children is a collaborative effort to address the needs of children affected by substance use through training and education, systems and policy changes, and direct support for children and families. Children are often the first impacted and the last to get help when a family member experiences addiction. No child is too young to escape the impact of a loved one’s substance use and it is never too early or too late to offer specialized support.
Children are often the first impacted and the last to receive support when a family member experiences addiction. Joining Forces for Children is a collaborative community effort to address the needs of children and teens impacted by substance use through direct support for children and families and training and educational outreach.
Joining Forces for Children are committed to supporting children impacted by a loved one’s substance use by:
- Providing evidence-based, hope-centered approaches and resources to individuals, families, and/or caregivers
- Reducing stigma surrounding parental addiction and its impact on a family
- Building hope and resilience in children and families
The Family Advocate with Joining Forces for Children provides free individualized support to children impacted by a loved one’s addiction. The family advocate is available to connect with school-age children during or outside of the school day and often become a trusted support for the child/teen. Younger children may be supported in a caregiver setting or through resources provided to the family.
Knowing that children impacted by a loved one’s addiction are more likely to develop their own addiction disorder at some point in their life, the Family Advocate builds skills to decrease the likelihood that a young person will develop a substance use disorder. Because addiction is a family illness, this individualized support may also include other family members to help foster recovery.
Free Services & Support (Servicios y apoyo gratuitos)
The Joining Forces for Children Family Advocate provides free individualized support to children impacted by addiction. Knowing that children impacted by addiction are more likely to develop their own addiction disorder at some point in their life, the Family Advocate provides education and builds skills to decrease the likelihood that a young person will develop an addiction disorder. This individualized support also includes other families members to help foster recovery from the family illness of addiction.
El Defensor de la Familia de Unamos Fuerzas por los Niños brinda apoyo individualizado gratuito a los niños afectados por la adicción. Debido a que sabemos que los niños afectados por la adicción tienen más probabilidad de desarrollar su propio trastorno de adicción en algún momento de sus vidas, el Defensor de la Familia proporciona educación y desarrolla habilidades para disminuir la probabilidad de que una persona joven desarrolle un trastorno de adicción. Este apoyo individualizado también incluye a otros miembros de la familia para así ayudar a fomentar la recuperación de la enfermedad familiar de adicción.
Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the deceased and their families.
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