Child substance misuse in Cumbria leads to calls of concern from drug and alcohol rehabilitation charity in Barrow

That was the message from the founder of a drug and alcohol rehabilitation charity after it was revealed authorities have flagged more than 1,000 concerns about children abusing alcohol or drugs over the last four years.

Dave Higham, of The Well Communities in Barrow, agrees with charity Barnardo's which says more should be done to tackle the 'alarming' issue of drug and alcohol use among children referred to social care services across England.

Department for Education figures show in Cumbria 423 concerns about child-related alcohol misuse and 727 cases relating to drug abuse were identified during assessments of children in need between 2017-18 and 2020-21.

In the latest year, assessors flagged 280 concerns about childhood substance misuse – 195 cases involving a youngster's drug use, and 85 their misuse of alcohol.

That figure was down from 357 the year before but higher than the 233 cases recorded in 2018-19, before the coronavirus pandemic.

"A lot of people with substance misuse problems get into it at a young age and get tied in through addiction," said Mr Higham.

"In my experience at The Well and in my own personal experience of substance misuse it usually starts due to childhood trauma - and I have just finished a book which looks into this.

CONCERN: The Well created and developed David Higham.

"In this I talk about this subject and how research shows that the more childhood trauma suffered, the more likely someone is to misuse substances.

"I think social services and addiction services need to be more trauma informed and be more aware as to why they are taking these substances in the first place.

"I believe we need to protect our children from these adverse childhood experiences."

The total number of concerns does not necessarily equate to the number of children involved, as a child could be recorded as needing support for both drug and alcohol use at the same assessment.

A Government spokeswoman said it was providing investment to charities supporting vulnerable children and giving billions of pounds to local authorities to help them respond to pressures, including for children's services.

She added: “We’re also making £24 million available for a regional recovery fund for children’s social care, to tackle the most pressing issues vulnerable children face in those areas, as well as providing more investment in mental health support and championing Family Hubs so parents can access important support services for themselves and their children.

“The Independent Care Review will also address the sector's major challenges.”