title: An evaluation of a service to keep children safe in families with mental health and/or substance abuse issues.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to evaluate a specialised service designed to improve parenting capacity, child safety and family functioning in the context of parental mental health, drug and alcohol and child protection concerns.
  
  
  METHODS
  Client data was collected over a period of 3 years and 3 months, including demographic characteristics, service usage, presenting issues and pre and post revised North Carolina Family Assessment Scale (NCFAS-G) scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A significant improvement between intake and discharge occurred on the majority of the 58 NCFAS-G subscale items (32/58). In particular, most significant change occurred in the domains 'family safety' (p < 0.001) and 'family interactions' (p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Specialised programs can assist families with child safety concerns suffering from mental health and/or drug and alcohol problems.
authors.affiliation: Research Officer, Central Coast Local Health District, Children and Young People's Mental Health, Gosford, NSW, Australia Dominiek.Coates@health.nsw.gov.au.
authors.forename: Dominiek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coates
authors.affiliation: Service Manager, Central Coast Local Health District, Children and Young People's Mental Health, Gosford, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Howe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia; D002648:Child; D002654:Child Care; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012449:Safety; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: child protection concerns; parental drug and alcohol problems; parental mental health; risk of significant harm; service evaluation