The Last Chance Court

Jenny Cuffe reports on the UK's first family, drug and alcohol court, a groundbreaking experiment designed to keep children of addicts from going into care. Parents sign up for an intensive course of counselling and rehabilitation, agreeing to frequent drug tests and reporting regularly to the court. Those who fail will go back to a conventional court, where there is a strong chance that the children will be taken away from them. Halfway through a three-year trial period for the court, the programme hears from families, their lawyers, judges and the specialist team of counsellors. Jenny meets mothers like Catherine, a heroin addict, who gave birth to her third child in a hostel toilet. At a recent hearing, the judge praised her parenting skills and said he was proud of her. Tim Quinn, the scheme's clinical nurse, says that there is an urgent need to stop the damage and chaos of parental drug and alcohol abuse being transmitted to the next generation.