Seeing Through Hidden Harm to Brighter Futures

‘Seeing Through Hidden Harm to Brighter Futures’ Conference

The Familibase¹ National Conference on Hidden Harm ‘Seeing Through Hidden Harm to Brighter Futures’ took place on 18^th October 2023.

Supported by the HSE and TUSLA², funded by the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the aims of the conference included:

Discuss Hidden Harm
Identify the needs of the child and family impacted by Hidden Harm
Report on the National Hidden Harm Project
Showcase evidence-based interventions to address Hidden Harm
Create a community of practice. Aimed at staff, funders, and policy makers relevant to Hidden Harm

The conference was launched by Minister Hildegarde Naughton T.D., Minister of State at the Department of An Taoiseach and at the Department of Health, with responsibility for the Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces. Watch the minister Naughton's opening address here

Other speakers on the day included:

Fiona Kearney Braiden (CEO FamiliBase) ‘Background to the Conference and video ‘Childrens Voices’’ (watch here)
Keynote Speaker Joy Barlow MBE. MSc. ‘Hidden Harm: Learning, Listening and Lasting, The Legacy of a Ground - Breaking Policy’ (watch here)
Caroline Jordan (National Policy Manager for Family Support and Social Inclusion, Tusla Child and Family Agency) and Esther Wolfe (Education Officer Addiction Service HSE) ‘The National Hidden Harm Project’ (watch here)

Following the presentations, participants took part in an interactive session (both online in breakout rooms and in-person at roundtable) to discuss the learnings from the presentations, guided by narrative prompts and supported by table facilitators.

Practice lessons were shared by the following practitioners:

Bernadette O Grady, PUP Trainer, Coolmine Drug & Alcohol Treatment Centre (watch here)
Thomas (Tom) McGill, Family Support Worker, Alcohol Forum Ireland (watch here)
Mairéad Grennan, Practice Liaison Worker, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Drug and Alcohol Task Force (watch here)
Shaunie Kelly, Child & Family Manager, FamiliBase (watch here)

A roundup of the day’s presentations, interactive session and practice lessons closed the conference (watch the plenary session here).

Report

The conference report (Barlow, J. 2024) can be downloaded here.

Training

Hidden Harm eLearning was developed by the HSE and TUSLA, with input from the community & voluntary sector on recognising and responding to the impact of parental alcohol and other drug use on children.

This programme is relevant to all staff working with parents, children, young people or families who may be affected by problem alcohol and other drug use. This includes HSE, Tusla, and community/voluntary sectors.

The aim of the programme is to support staff to increase their awareness of and response to Hidden Harm, which is the experience of children living with and affected by parental problem alcohol and other drug use. The module aims to encourage all services and stakeholders to work together to support the family. The module includes guidance from a Parents perspective and from professionals working in the Voluntary and Community sector, the HSE and Tusla-Child and Family Agency. It is based on the HSE/Tulsa Practice Guide; Hidden Harm-Seeing through Hidden Harm to Brighter Futures (2019). The topics covered are the impact of Hidden Harm, the voice of the parent, working together and Hidden Harm in practice. By the end of the module the learner will be able to:

Recognise the impact of Hidden Harm on children and young people
Support the parent to limit the impact of problem alcohol and other drug use on the children or young people
Work in partnership with parents and other services to meet the needs of the child or young person.

The eLearning is available on HSELand for HSE, TUSLA, and community & voluntary sector staff. To access the eLearning:

Log into www.HSELand.ie using Google Chrome
Follow the instructions to register as a new user, or use your existing HSELand log in (you may have this from the mandatory Children First training)
Click on ‘search’ and type in Hidden Harm

Notes:

¹FamiliBase is a centre for children, young people, and families in Ballyfermot in Dublin 10. FamiliBase has three strands of service delivery: Early Years and Afterschool’s, Child and Family and Youth and Community. FamiliBase operates an integrated model of practice. Programme delivery in FamiliBase occurs at different levels i.e., from universal level to intensive wrap around practice for those with multiple or more complex needs. FamiliBase is a ‘one stop shop’ of supports for children, young people, and families. FamiliBase have been delivering Hidden Harm Interventions since 2006. FamiliBase is a multifunded organisation.

²The HSE and TUSLA are joint leads for the implementation of action 1.3.9 in Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery, A health-led response to drug and alcohol use in Ireland 2017-2025, which is to “mitigate the risk and reduce the impact of parental substance misuse on babies and young children”. The National Hidden Harm Project was established by the HSE and the Child and Family Agency (TUSLA) to inform service planning and improve services for children in relation to Hidden Harm. The HSE and Tusla collaboratively developed and published the Hidden Harm Strategic Statement and the Hidden Harm Practice Guide in January 2019. These publications set out how the HSE and Tusla intend to bridge the gap between adult and children’s services, in favour of a more family-focused approach that considers the needs of dependent children and other family members.

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