Children of Alcoholics Week February 12-18, 2012

The National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA) will be observing its Children of Alcoholics (COA) Week from February 12-18, 2012. COA Week “celebrates the recovery of the many thousands of children (of all ages) who have received the help they needed to recover from the pain and losses suffered in their childhood, and it offers hope to those still suffering from the adverse impact of parental alcohol and drug addiction”. (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration).

According to the NACoA,

• it is estimated that one in four children in the United States under age 18 is hurt by family alcohol abuse or alcoholism, and that countless others are affected by parental drug use.
• there is strong scientific evidence that alcoholism runs in families with children of alcoholics being 2 to 4 times more likely to develop alcoholism than children of non-alcoholics.
• young children of alcoholics exhibit symptoms of depression and anxiety to a greater extent than children of non-alcoholics; and incur increasing health care costs and experience more life problems over the lifespan.
• young children of alcohol or drug dependent parents often have difficulty in school and are more likely to be truant, drop out of school, repeat grades, or be referred to a school counselor or psychologist.
• children of addicted parents, with interest and support from family, friends, health professionals, teachers, clergy, and others, can avoid the negative effects of familial alcoholism and drug dependence.

“Home is what most children consider a safe environment, but unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. It is essential that children currently living in the difficult situation of parental alcohol addiction know that there are resources out there to help them and that there are individuals out there who are in recovery from the situation and are living healthy and full lives. They have to know that they aren’t alone” stated Joseph DeMarzo, Director of Putnam County Mental Health/Youth Bureau. “The Youth Bureau offers Pegasus, which is a free and confidential program for children ages 6 to 14 who have a parent or family member suffering from alcoholism or other drug dependency.  Pegasus is an eight week program held twice a year that offers information, support and hope to both children and families. For more information, please call us at (845)808-1600 ext. 46126.” DeMarzo said.

“We support this national observance because we don’t want those who need the encouragement the most to fall through the cracks. Something as simple as celebrating those who are in recovery from parents who have suffered from addiction can help young people currently in a difficult situation”, stated Kristin McConnell, Executive Director of the National Council on Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependencies of Putnam (NCADD).

The Putnam County Communities That Care (CTC) Coalition is an anti-drug coalition that works to build a safe and healthy family-oriented community, which includes reducing the use of harmful substances by our adolescents. It is composed of individuals from all sectors of the community who work together to reduce risk factors and strengthen protective factors through education, enforcement and policy initiatives.

Members of Putnam CTC Coalition are available if you have any questions or would like for us to do a presentation to your organization on this or any other substance abuse trends that affect our children. Please call the Putnam County Youth Bureau at 845-808-1600 Ext. 46117 or NCADD Putnam at 845-225-4646, Ext. 13 for further information. Please visit and join us on Facebook by searching “Putnam County Communities That Care – NY” or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/PutnamCTCNY or call 845-225-4646.