Alcohol Monitoring During Child Custody
Child protective services often conduct alcohol monitoring during child custody if one or both parents is suspected of or has been proven to be addicted. Heavy drinking not only causes significant problems for men and women but also for their children. A custodial mother or father under the influence can become abusive or negligent in the care of youngsters causing accidental or intentional injury, disfigurement or even death. Alcoholism can cause otherwise caring and loving mothers and fathers to woefully neglect small children, failing to feed, shelter or clothe them. Alcohol monitoring during child custody may expose poor living habits in an addicts household. An individual addicted to drinking may go for days without eating; many simply forget to prepare meals. Money needed for food, utilities, or clothing may be wasted on alcohol; and children suffer needlessly. In extreme cases, youngsters may be beaten, raped, burned with cigarettes, or prostituted by their parents because of an uncontrollable addiction. "Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;" (Ephesians 5:14-18).
When the courts award custody to a custodial parent who has a history of alcoholism, social workers may be appointed to conduct home visits or parents may be required to report for regular assessments at state run agencies. The goal of the court is to ensure the greatest safety for minor children while helping custodial parents kick the habit. Agencies often require parents to attend 12-step programs along with alcohol monitoring during child custody. Substance abuse courses address the mental and emotional issues surrounding addiction while replacing negative thought patterns with positive ones. Social workers assigned to monitoring addictive mothers or fathers might visit unannounced to assess whether the parent has been abusing alcohol. Signs of abuse will include the presence of liquor in the home, drunkenness, a lack of food, or uncleanness. A home environment that is unkempt, overrun with trash and filth, or lacking food and utilities such as electricity or water are sure signs that a custodial parent has been binging or wasting money on liquor.
Social workers will first try to help custodial parents "clean up their act" by helping to manage money or provide housekeeping or food preparation tips. Long term alcohol monitoring during child custody may include weekly or biweekly home visits, querying close relatives to assess the parent's conduct, or reporting on improvements or negative behaviors that discourage or encourage drinking. Alcoholics can be deceived into thinking that spending time with drinking buddies or taking just one sip of booze will not cause them to fall off the wagon; but they should beware. Mothers or fathers under the influence should strive to avoid being in the company of those who drink, gradually substituting alcohol dependency with acceptable patterns of behavior. Replacing visits to the nightclub or corner bar with church attendance or enrollment in higher education are all positive lifestyle changes that social workers who conduct alcohol monitoring during child custody can appreciate. The less custodial parents imbibe, the greater the chances that minor children can thrive and remain in the home. "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame" (I Corinthians 15:33-34).
Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes relatives and friends to help a custodial parent addicted to alcohol kick the habit. Alcohol monitoring during child custody sometimes reveals a pattern of abusive drinking in the parent's family. Social drinking can often lead to abuse in youth, teens and adults. Relatives should be discouraged from offering alcohol to custodial parents or inviting them to family affairs where liquor or beer is served. Contrary to popular belief, the consumption of alcoholic beverages is neither a rite of passage for youth, nor is it a badge of adulthood for older children. Inviting children to begin drinking at dinner parties or other social gathering is positioning that child for failure. Child protective services should be alerted a family's pattern of drinking when conducting alcohol monitoring during child custody.
The courts have the power to remove minor children from a home when alcohol monitoring during child custody reveals negligence or abuse. In such cases, a parent could become incarcerated and minors placed into foster care or with a non-custodial parent or responsible relative. If suitable custodians cannot be found, the court will place the children in foster care for an extended period of time, much to the detriment of the family unit. Youngsters who are wards of the court can be taken away from the home for years and shipped from house to house, sometimes suffering abuse at the hands of uncaring adults. Until a mother or father has undergone an acceptable substance abuse program and proven their ability to abstain from strong drink, children may not be returned to the home. Sadly, because of the strength of an addictive habit like alcoholism, some parents lose their children permanently. Only through seeking secular or spiritual counseling for alcoholism can men and women overcome addiction and regain custody of minor children.
When the courts award custody to a custodial parent who has a history of alcoholism, social workers may be appointed to conduct home visits or parents may be required to report for regular assessments at state run agencies. The goal of the court is to ensure the greatest safety for minor children while helping custodial parents kick the habit. Agencies often require parents to attend 12-step programs along with alcohol monitoring during child custody. Substance abuse courses address the mental and emotional issues surrounding addiction while replacing negative thought patterns with positive ones. Social workers assigned to monitoring addictive mothers or fathers might visit unannounced to assess whether the parent has been abusing alcohol. Signs of abuse will include the presence of liquor in the home, drunkenness, a lack of food, or uncleanness. A home environment that is unkempt, overrun with trash and filth, or lacking food and utilities such as electricity or water are sure signs that a custodial parent has been binging or wasting money on liquor.
Social workers will first try to help custodial parents "clean up their act" by helping to manage money or provide housekeeping or food preparation tips. Long term alcohol monitoring during child custody may include weekly or biweekly home visits, querying close relatives to assess the parent's conduct, or reporting on improvements or negative behaviors that discourage or encourage drinking. Alcoholics can be deceived into thinking that spending time with drinking buddies or taking just one sip of booze will not cause them to fall off the wagon; but they should beware. Mothers or fathers under the influence should strive to avoid being in the company of those who drink, gradually substituting alcohol dependency with acceptable patterns of behavior. Replacing visits to the nightclub or corner bar with church attendance or enrollment in higher education are all positive lifestyle changes that social workers who conduct alcohol monitoring during child custody can appreciate. The less custodial parents imbibe, the greater the chances that minor children can thrive and remain in the home. "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame" (I Corinthians 15:33-34).
Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes relatives and friends to help a custodial parent addicted to alcohol kick the habit. Alcohol monitoring during child custody sometimes reveals a pattern of abusive drinking in the parent's family. Social drinking can often lead to abuse in youth, teens and adults. Relatives should be discouraged from offering alcohol to custodial parents or inviting them to family affairs where liquor or beer is served. Contrary to popular belief, the consumption of alcoholic beverages is neither a rite of passage for youth, nor is it a badge of adulthood for older children. Inviting children to begin drinking at dinner parties or other social gathering is positioning that child for failure. Child protective services should be alerted a family's pattern of drinking when conducting alcohol monitoring during child custody.
The courts have the power to remove minor children from a home when alcohol monitoring during child custody reveals negligence or abuse. In such cases, a parent could become incarcerated and minors placed into foster care or with a non-custodial parent or responsible relative. If suitable custodians cannot be found, the court will place the children in foster care for an extended period of time, much to the detriment of the family unit. Youngsters who are wards of the court can be taken away from the home for years and shipped from house to house, sometimes suffering abuse at the hands of uncaring adults. Until a mother or father has undergone an acceptable substance abuse program and proven their ability to abstain from strong drink, children may not be returned to the home. Sadly, because of the strength of an addictive habit like alcoholism, some parents lose their children permanently. Only through seeking secular or spiritual counseling for alcoholism can men and women overcome addiction and regain custody of minor children.
Alcohol Monitoring During Child Custody
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