February 14, 2012 - Mayor Menino Proclaims February 14 Children of Alcoholics Day

View Proclamation here.

For questions or help click here.

A Message from Maureen McGlame, RFK Children’s Action Corps’ COASA Program (Children of Alcohol and Substance Abuse), Program Director.

If we truly want to keep our children from abusing alcohol and other drugs there is no more effective way to do so than by reaching out to those who are currently growing up with an alcoholic parent (or parents).  The logic is almost stunning in its simplicity: these children are two to nine times more likely to abuse alcohol themselves than their peers.  Left to fend for themselves these boys and girls are subjected to enormous burdens of responsibility and confusion.  Research has indicated that as little as six weekly group sessions with other children of alcoholics can make an enormous difference in their lives.

Back in 1991, Congress declared the week of February in which Valentine’s Day falls National Children of Alcoholics Week, sending a message to the 11 million kids in the country that they are not alone.  But 20 years later there are actually fewer resources available to them.  The decline of quality comprehensive services for alcoholics and other addicts has led to the elimination of most family support programs and supports for children.

The result of this institutional neglect is bleak and clear.  Children of alcoholics score lower on standardized tests and have higher rates of truancy, absenteeism and attention deficit disorder than their peers.  More than 50% of young people hospitalized for psychiatric disorders in one study were found to have at least one alcoholic parent.  The rate in another sample, of adolescent runaways, was 53%.  One other study estimated that parental substance abuse is the root cause behind at least 70% of all child welfare spending.  The smallest number of children continue to get the greatest amount in dollars of services with hardly a pittance going to prevention in the schools.

The solution is giving these children access to support groups (based in schools, through community organizations and healthcare systems) where they can learn that their parent’s drinking problem is not their fault and that they can break the cycle of substance abuse by breaking the rules at home which are always:DON’T TALK, DON’T TRUST, DON’T FEEL
Instead of waiting for the substance abuse to develop, the sadness and depression to manifest themselves and the anger to erupt it makes sense to respond to the Mayor’s request and join him in “recognizing and responding to these children in meaningful, loving ways.”