Request for Tender for Research Project:

Minding the Baby! Minding the Parent!

An Exploration of the Needs of Expectant / Recent Parents who use Drugs

Background information and invitation to tender 

NIC Dublin Drug and Alcohol Task Force. 

NIC Dublin Local Drug and Alcohol Task Force has been recently reconfigured in 2024 and is a multi- stakeholder collaborative organisation made up of members from Statutory, Voluntary and community representatives. NIC Dublin Task Force Core remit is to develop strategies and initiatives to support the community of the North Inner City respond to substance mis-use in their community. Problematic Substance mis-use is a growing public health issue in Ireland and is associated with multiple complex and chronic health conditions, decreased life expectancy and detrimental social aspects on the community.

Background to the tender

The Background for this proposal is for a project to ensure that parents who have a history of current or past drug use have the optimal chance of maintaining caregiving role to their children and are more likely to engage in effective family planning.

It has been found in the US that between 50-80% of child welfare cases where young children were removed from their parents involves parental substance misuse. Further, in cases where there was established maltreatment, substance misuse was the cause in 25% of cases.i In the UK it has been found that of mothers with substance misuse issues, 83% were discharged with their babies from maternity services but that subsequently 87% had the children taken into care at some stage before the age of 12 and only 41% were in the care of their parents by the age of 12 years.ii

Removal of children from parents due to substance misuse is highly traumatizing. It has been found up to two thirds of birth parents report depression due to children being put into care with about 26% experiencing suicidal thoughts of whom about half make an attempt to end their lives. There have been reports of increased rates of self-harm and suicide attempts upon children being put into careiii iv and also high rates of relapse into drug and alcohol addiction. Similar findings have been found in Irish research. Ivers, Giulini and Paul (2021) found that many mothers who had a history of drug use were concerned about losing custody of their children as they found the role of mother and highly fulfilling and they felt capable of proving nurture and care for their children.v Lucey (2023) found that “the relationship… [Mothers who used drugs] …most “craved” was that of a proximal, caregiving kind with their children.

Please see full Tender Document attached below.

Instructions to Tenderers

Format of tenders

Tenderers should complete and submit the application form. Tenders submitted in formats other than the application form will not be considered. Application form can be found at the end of the tender document: Appendix 1, page 5.

Submission of tenders and closing date for application Completed application forms must be sent by email to briang.oreilly@hse.ie with subject line 'Parents in Addiction study'. Completed application forms must be received no later than Monday 24th February 2025. Application forms received after the tender deadline will NOT be considered.

Queries and clarifications

All queries related to any aspect of this request for tender can be directed to briang.oreilly@hse.ie