We took a half hour ride out of Seattle to Everett. The scenery was familiar - long wide roads full of large American cars driving slowly by UK standards (no one going over 65), the usual signage for MacDonalds, Walmart and the myriad of US outlets. Our car drew to a halt outside a very ordinary looking single story building in a business park. We are not in a deprived part of town - there's no graffitti, or rubbish or other telltale signs of being in a poor part of town. No-one would know that this was home to a methadone clinic.

The front door simply indicated that this was a health facility. Once through the door it still looks like a health center. Two welcoming-looking receptionists sit behind an attractive desk in a well-lit, brightly decorated open space. A couple of women and a man are sitting in the waiting area.

We are here to see Families Facing the Future - an evidence-based group parenting program designed and developed by the SRDG group with families with substance use problems in mind. Anthony is the facilitator - he doesn't fit the stereo type for a group leader - young, male African-American and (he wouldn't mind me saying this) big.

See a video of Anthony talking about the program

We are introduced to Anthony's group - four women and a man - and sit on the side lines while he runs session four (out of 16) on parental monitoring. He began by explaining how monitoring is an important part of parenting and then very skillfully facilitated a discussion about what it feels like to be monitored and shared methods for parents to try. The session ended with everyone making a behavior chart for their children.

At first glance you would think that this group of parents were not particularly unusual, until they start to draw on their experiences - gross abuse as children, time in prison, alcohol and substance use, violence. Listening to Bill was particularly moving 'I grew up thinking that it was normal to be beaten, I saw my step-dad try to run my mom over, I've spent 15 years in the slammer, I've used alcohol and drugs my whole life'. Kevin has a 7 year old son who he hasn't been able to see for five years because of his violence and drug misuse. He wanted to do the program as a way of demonstrating to his parole officer, son and ex-partner that he was turning his life around.

Although the content of the session touched on the very grimmest things that human beings do to each other, there were moments of hilarity. Most noteworthy was Bill's reflection on the long-term effects of alcohol on him. 'I've been drinking for 40 years and it's take all this time to realize that I am allergic......every time I drink I come out in handcuffs'.

Watch a video of Bill discussing his experience

SRDG have tested this program designed specifically with substance abusing parents in mind and showed it to be effective. It offers up a challenge to three commonly held beliefs about parenting programs - they don't work for hard to reach groups, they sit at the gentler end of the spectrum of support and it's hard to deliver evidence-based programs with fidelity. This visit put us straight on all three counts.