As children grow into adolescence they carry with them the adaptive capacity generated from their early childhood experiences. When exposed to abuse, neglect and excessive stress in childhood the ability to navigate the challenging frontier of adolescence is compromised. Unresolved anguish from harmful or negative events in childhood can lead adults to 'self-medicate' with substances or behaviors that engage the pleasure centers of the brain.

Addiction is the impaired control over the use of a substance or a behavior despite clear evidence to the user of its harmful effects. Addiction can range from the abuse of substances like tobacco, alcohol or street and prescription drugs, to process or behavioral addictions like gambling, eating and sex. When someone becomes addicted it impacts all segments of their life. Addictions are often linked with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.

The Foundation's goal is to be a catalyst for the development of a comprehensive, integrated and accessible continuum of effective addiction services and mental health programs for affected individuals and their families in Alberta. This will not only improve the addicts' lives, it will improve their parenting abilities, their children's lives, and ultimately their overall family wellness. The Foundation believes that addiction services need to be:

• Comprehensive - a continuum of services ranging from immediate short term interventions to life long aftercare;
• Integrated - involve a range of coordinated services for the benefit of the individual and their families;
• Accessible - services for different types of addiction and multiple addictions need to be available in a timely manner;
• Bio-psycho-social-spiritual - able to deal with underlying psychological, social, physical and emotional issues;
• Trauma-informed - specialized services that are able to deal with unresolved anguish from negative events that sometimes begin in childhood;
• Outcomes oriented - based upon reliable evidence about treatment effectiveness; and
• Prevention oriented - provide opportunities for young family members to receive appropriate support throughout a parents' treatment.