Safe spaces needed for drug-addicted children, say grieving mums | UK News

Three women whose teenage sons died after becoming addicted to drugs have told the the system failed their children.

Anita Morris, Nicola Howarth and Kate Roux spoke to the as part of a wide-ranging investigation into the failings of drug treatment for young people.

It found significant disparities in community care and a lack of state-funded residential facilities for under-18s.

Analysis shows more than half of the 16,000 children in drug and alcohol treatment in the past year were 15 or younger.

National Drug Treatment Monitoring System data shows a 13% rise in under-18s seeking support in 2024-25, yet experts and families say many are not receiving the help needed.

The found disparities in community care, gaps in strategy and a shortage of beds for those in crisis.

Will Haydock, from drugs charity Collective Voice, says a consistent national strategy is needed.

His calls are echoed by the three mothers who believe more effective treatment could have saved the lives of their boys – Olly Barnett, Alfie Nichol-Brown and Ben Nelson-Roux.

While they have never met, the women share the same experience of seeing their children battling addiction and having to fight for years to get the right support.

Anita, whose son Olly died at 17, said: “We need safe spaces for children buying £1 tablets off the street and developing addictions.

“We need places for them to get off drugs with proper support, where they’re safe and their parents aren’t watching them in agony, wondering if they’ll die in their bedroom.”

The majority of children are treated in the community and most will never need residential treatment. For those who do, options are limited.

There are no state-run specialist residential facilities for under-18s in the UK and just a handful of beds available at costly private facilities, the understands.

Experts told the changes in drug trends, including a stark rise in ketamine and solvent use, meant demand was growing for specialist care.

The most commonly used substance by those in treatment in 2024-25 was cannabis, with 86% listing it as problem for them.

Drug treatment is the responsibility of councils to fund and co-ordinate locally.

Olly, Ben and Alfie received community-based support via a network of different services, including social services, the NHS and local drug organisations.

Each of their mothers said collaboration had been lacking and residential treatment impossible to secure.

Anita, who had to manage Olly’s detoxification regime at home, said: “I was told there was nowhere for him to be sent, no detox ward, no in-patient service.

“I looked at going private but with everything I had, the car I could have sold, I would have been lucky to have afforded a week.

“He wouldn’t have relapsed if he’d had proper care, detox and counselling all at the same time – he could have got better.”

Councillor Jill Rhodes, who chairs Cheshire East Council’s adults and health committee, said the authority received one of the lowest Public Health Grants in the country but commissioned a range of drug and alcohol treatment services.

She said it recognised a “clear gap” in residential provision for young people and would “strongly support” a national approach to address the shortfall.

Kate, from Knaresborough in North Yorkshire, described services involved in Ben’s care as “horribly overstretched”.

She said he had been on the books of more than a dozen organisations when she found him dead in an adult homeless hostel at 16.

“Every strand [of his treatment] was done by a different group in the community and they had very little communication with each other, very little communication with us and no joined up plan,” she said.

“As he spiralled, his phone pinged and pinged with Snapchat adverts for drugs and threats from dealers.

“He had drugs workers who saw him a maximum of once a fortnight – they couldn’t compete with that level of coercion.

“He needed a residential place because he never felt safe, we couldn’t make him safe.”

A North Yorkshire Council spokeswoman said Ben had been moved to the homeless shelter as a “last resort following extensive searches for suitable accommodation”.

She said the “heart-breaking situation” highlighted the need for greater national specialist provision.

Nicola Howarth, from Newton Aycliffe in County Durham, said her son Alfie had seen “at least 20” drug workers between the ages of 12 and 17.

“There was no consistency with his care,” she said. “I was always having to kick off and scream like a naughty child to get someone to listen to me.”

Alfie had a cocaine problem so severe he lost nose cartilage and was using “all day, every day”, spending hundreds of pounds a week on his addiction.

His mother could not afford the £23,000 she was quoted for a private residential rehab placement – at the time of his death, she was still saving up.

On Alfie’s 18th birthday, she received a call from an adult residential facility.

She said: “They said they had a bed for him if we still wanted it, but he’d already died.”

Michael Laing, Durham County Council’s corporate director for adult and health services, said an Adolescent Safeguarding and Exploitation team had been set up since Alfie’s death, with support available for young people who needed it.

The understands treatment and access to it can differ significantly based on where children live, influenced by local commissioning and funding decisions.

Prevention of Future Deaths reports prepared by coroners following the inquests of Ben and Olly urged the government and councils to act, flagging concerns around drug treatment and the lack of residential facilities for under-18s.

Alexander Frodsham’s report, published following Olly’s 2024 hearing, said the absence of such facilities placed “children at greater risk of relapse and death by overdose” as he highlighted disparities between child and adult treatment.

Gaps in government guidance, a lack of early intervention and prevention strategies, lengthy waiting lists, limited data and evidence gathering, zero-tolerance school policies and poor collaboration were also at the heart of an unequal system, leading experts told the .

The government’s independent drugs adviser agrees more must be done to ensure high quality treatment for children and young people, including “adequate in-patient facilities” for those with the most complex needs.

Professor Dame Carol Black said children had “suffered” from years of under-investment in treatment services, with the current government now having to “turn around the tanker” and rebuild the sector.

She said improvements had been made in light of her 2020 independent review of drugs, which made recommendations around recovery and prevention, including the need to widen access to treatment.

Dame Carol added: “I’m pleased with where we’ve got to but I want the quality of what we offer to be improved.”

Her views are shared by Dr Will Haydock, chief executive of charity Collective Voice, which represents a host of drugs organisations.

He said: “There are still issues with inconsistency, what’s on offer and the routes through which people access it.”

Haydock said the rise in under-18s in treatment could reflect more investment and improved treatment access following Dame Carol’s report.

But he said online dealers, changing drug trends and a higher rate of children with mental health problems had also contributed.

Dr Haydock said a “coherent, co-ordinated package of care” was essential, adding: “Substance use issues are never isolated, they’re always part of someone’s wider life.

“We need to involve mental health services, education and youth justice – and we need national leadership with a clear strategy and plan for reducing harm.”

A cross-government approach, more specialist beds, earlier intervention, additional funding and the implementation of clear national guidance and prevention strategies were among potential solutions suggested by sources including the Children’s Commissioner, the Local Government Association (LGA), drugs charities and rehab workers.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said treatment and recovery funding would be channelled through the Public Health grant by 2026.

He said £3.4bn would be ringfenced for drug and alcohol treatment and recovery across three years.

At UKAT’s Banbury Lodge in Oxfordshire, a residential facility providing treatment for a range of addictions, there are three beds for 16 to 18-year-olds.

Centre manager Nick Dunkley said such facilities offered a comprehensive package of care, available around the clock.

But a 28-day stay at the privately-run rehab costs almost £18,000 – a price out of the reach, he accepted, of many families.

Mr Dunkley acknowledged the “significant” cost and said more state-funded beds should be made available, adding: “Preventative measures are a better alternative to waiting until things are beyond repair.”

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said she was deeply concerned about the “postcode lottery” faced by too many children.

“No matter the issue, children and young people must be able to access the treatment they need close to home, to help them recovery quickly and rebuild stability with support from loved ones,” she said.

Dr Wendy Taylor, of the LGA, called on the government to increase the public health grant to ensure quality support was available and accessible to all.

She said the landscape was very difficult for councils trying to provide treatment within “serious budget stresses”.

Dame Carol said there was “every intention centrally” to rebuild and improve services.

She said: “It is the quality of the people in the service, the speed of that service and the connection with the other things children need that is crucial.”

Drug addiction should be treated as a chronic illness, she said, adding: “We need to reduce the stigma that surrounds it, and that’s everybody’s business.”

The government’s actions come too late for Olly, Ben and Alfie, but their parents believe change could bring hope to others.

Anita said: “There are more children like Olly and to know your child is safe and not going to die in front of you, to know they’ll be cared for and go through a proper withdrawal programme would mean so much to parents. It would save those children.”

Additional reporting by Louise Hobson, North East & Cumbria

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