Journal of Public Child Welfare, Vol. 8:491–513, 2014 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1554-8732 print/1554-8740 online DOI: 10.1080/15548732.2014.948583 We’re All in This Together: Moving Toward an Interdisciplinary Model of Practice Between Child Protection and Substance Abuse Treatment Professionals JOAN MARIE BLAKEY University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA Many studies have documented the deleterious effect of substance abuse on the child protection system. The lack of collaboration between child protection and substance abuse treatment profes- sionals has been identified as a contributing factor related to poor outcomes among parents with histories of addiction. The purpose of this study was to identify key components and conflicts of inter- disciplinary practice between 21 child protection and substance abuse treatment professionals. The interdisciplinary components and conflicts were: having a shared vision, presenting as a unified team, having different goals, taking sides, and limited informa- tion sharing and involvement. Moving toward an interdisciplinary model of practice is vital to providing families with histories of addiction with the optimal chance for success. KEYWORDS interdisciplinary practice, substance abuse treat- ment professionals, child protection caseworkers, qualitative study, case study method More than 20 years ago, studies began documenting the deleterious effect of substance abuse on children entering the child protection system (Azzi- Lessing & Olsen, 1996; Colby & Murrell, 1998; Curtis & McCullough, 1993; Received: 09/08/13; revised: 06/10/14; accepted: 07/22/14 Address correspondence to Joan Marie Blakey, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, Department of Social Work, 2400 East Hartford Avenue, Enderis Hall, Room 1177, Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA. E-mail: blakey@uwm.edu 491