How Many Children Can I Bring With Me To Rehab?

Parents, especially single parents, may delay seeking addiction treatment due to their family responsibilities at home.

Rehab centers that allow children give parents facing alcohol or drug abuse greater accessibility to addiction treatment.

How Many Children Can I Bring With Me To Rehab?

Generally speaking, rehab centers that provide substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services for parents often allow one or two children to accompany their parents.

These treatment centers don’t always include on their websites how many children are allowed, so you will likely need to call to verify the number.

Why Space For Children Is Limited At Rehab Centers

In addition to having limited resources, rehab centers may limit the number of children allowed to come along with their parents due to the average size of U.S. families.

The typical American family has just .78 kids, meaning that many families don’t have children at all or have fewer kids than they did in the past.

Single-father families have an average of .62 kids, while single-mother families have an average of .94 kids.

Will Rehab Centers Make Exceptions?

Drug rehab centers that accept children typically don’t have a hard-and-fast rule about how many children they’ll allow a parent to bring with them.

However, the number will be limited due to the number of beds available and other factors.

Number Of Beds

One consideration is how many beds the treatment center has available for children.

For example, if a rehab center happens to currently be providing care for several mothers with three or four children, you may have to find another option.

Number Of Staff Members

Another consideration is the number of staff available to watch children while their parents participate in therapy sessions and other treatment services.

Most rehab centers focus their services on treating drug and alcohol addiction and dependence and therefore may only have limited resources for providing childcare services.

Other Family-Friendly Addiction Care Options

If you can’t bring all of your children with you to a rehab program, don’t be discouraged. There are other treatment options to explore that take into consideration families with children.

Inpatient and outpatient treatment programs may provide case management services. Caseworkers can often help parents secure childcare, such as by getting in touch with other family members if a spouse is unavailable.

They may help arrange for daycare, transportation to and from daycare or school, and safe places for your children to stay with family or family friends overnight.

Outpatient treatment programs might also be another option. These programs, for people with mild to moderate addictions, allow parents to stay at home with their kids.

Find Substance Abuse Treatment Today

If you or a loved one is facing substance abuse, you can find treatment today. Call Addiction Resource to learn more about your treatment options and how to get started on the path to recovery.

Written by the Addiction Resource Editorial Staff