Parental Addiction
Sesame Street in Communities
January 30, 2025
Our partners at Sesame Workshop have partnered with the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts to create new resources to support caring adults supporting children impacted by parental addiction. Building on the library of parental addiction resources on Sesame.org, the new resources include a curated professional development course for providers, such as educators, social workers, health care workers, and beyond to expand their knowledge of how to best support children in their care going through tough times. The course features new printable materials as well as video interviews with real professionals sharing their experiences and expertise.
Hand in Hand Course
This interactive course is designed to support providers working with children and families impacted by parental addiction and substance use disorder.
When a parent struggles with addiction, the whole family struggles. This course offers talking points, strategies, and resources for providers to use in their work with children and their families.
In this course, providers will:
- Celebrate the important role that providers and caring adults play in the lives of young children impacted by addiction
- Explore the impact of addiction on a child’s life development and well-being and ways to help
- Review strategies to support children’s emotional well-being
- Identify ways that providers can support the whole family in building trust and connection
Printable Pages
New Ways to Ask for Help
Just as children may not have the words to express their feelings, they may also struggle to find the right words to ask for help when they need it. This page can be used as a tool for children to ask for help… without words.
Print this page, then color and cut the squares with children. When sharing them with a parent or caregiver, explain that these cards are meant for children to ask for help. When they receive them, they should meet the request on the card. When introducing this resource to children, you might say:
When you need a grown-up, you can hand these cards to them. You can use them to ask, to talk, to play, for a hug, or for help.
Many Ways to Play
Play is an essential part of childhood. It’s how children learn, and it’s what they love to do. Especially for children of addiction, who may have had to “grow up” at an earlier age, engaging in play can function as a mighty force for healing—allowing children to just be children.
Families can print and use this page as a tool to find ways to play, everyday!
For more resources, visit Sesame Street in Communities’ Parental Addiction page.