Leicestershire County Council. Youth Service. Drugs Policy and Guidance

Transcription

1 Leicestershire Couty Coucil Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace

2 Cotets Values ad Purposes 3 1. Why do we eed policy ad guidace, ad what is its purpose? 3 2. The laguage ad philosophy of policy ad guidace 4 3. Leicestershire Couty Coucil Youth Service: statemet of values & ethos 4 Cotexts 6 4. The social policy cotext 6 5. Plaig 7 6. Treds i youg people s drug use 7 Alcohol 8 Volatile substaces 8 7. Detached ad outreach work 9 8. Workig i a rural cotext 10 Issues affectig service provisio ad take-up i rural areas: Vulerable groups, risk ad protective factors for problematic use 11 School exclusio 12 Havig a paret with problematic drug use 12 Supportive relatioships 12 Boudaries 12 Diversity Workig i partership 14 Tier 1 15 Tier 2 15 Tier 3 16 Tier 4 16 Workig with parets, carers ad families 16 Youg people s participatio 17 Drug Educatio Drug educatio ad prevetio 19 Defiitio of terms 19 Drug educatio 19 What do youg people say they wat from drug educatio? 19 Assessig eeds 20 Aims ad objectives What works i drug educatio? 21 Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace 1

3 13. Cofidetiality ad the learig eviromet Moitorig ad evaluatio 22 The Law Drugs ad the law Workig with the police Detectio of drug use o youth work premises Use of drugs dogs for educatioal purposes o youth work premises Maagemet of drug-related icidets 27 What are drug-related icidets? 27 What do youg people say about the maagemet of drug icidets? 27 Complemetary support for youth workers dealig with drug-related icidets 27 Cofiscatig ad retaiig suspected illegal drugs 28 Disposig of drug parapheralia Iformatio sharig ad youg people 29 Traiig ad Workforce Developmet Meetig the challeges of drug-related work. 30 Appedices 31 Appedix 1: DART Screeig Tool 33 Appedix 2: DART Network Protocol 35 Appedix 3: Treatmet processes of idividual DART Agecies 37 Ackowledgemet The origial policy was writte by Graeme Tiffay ad subsequetly edited by Dr Christie Wise. Graeme Tiffay has a backgroud i youth ad commuity work. Sice 2000, he has bee a freelace researcher, traier, lecturer ad cosultat with special iterests i detached ad street-based youth work, youth social policy, democratic educatio, ad the use of philosophical tools to support learig. Christie Wise is a Seior Lecturer at The Ope Uiversity ad heads up the Workig with Youg People awards which deliver educatio ad traiig to the volutary ad statutory sectors. Christie s research iterest is i leadership ad maagemet i educatio. 2 Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace

4 Values ad Purposes 1 Why do we eed policy ad guidace; what is its purpose? Drugs are icreasigly prevalet ad icreasigly diverse. They iclude tobacco, alcohol, medicies, solvets, as well as illegal drugs. Most youg people do t use illegal drugs, but some do. Not all drug users suffer health ad social problems, but some do. Eve if youg people do t use drugs, they ca still suffer their effects; frieds ad families may use ad have problems with drugs, ad these ca have a egative impact o them. Youg people ca also come ito cotact with drugs i the wider commuity. All this occurs i a cotext where attitudes to drugs vary cosiderably. Media portrayals of drug misuse may exacerbate problems. We kow that youg people who do have problems with drugs eed well-iformed help ad support, ad that makig this available to them may be at odds with prevailig attitudes. So those who are workig o drug-related issues i a commuity cotext eed to take ito accout a wide rage of issues. It is also importat to recogise that all youg people who receive appropriate support (ot just those cosidered at risk of harmful illegal drug ad alcohol use) are likely to fare better tha those who are uable to access the support they eed. A drugs policy should: clarify the approach to drugs, the legal requiremets ad resposibilities of all staff, icludig voluteers, youg people, maagemet committee members, parets ad carers, exteral agecies ad the wider commuity; provide a secure framework withi which all staff (full ad part-time), icludig voluteers, support ad acillary staff, ca work; eable youg people to uderstad their rights ad what is expected of them; safeguard the health ad safety of staff ad youg people; help develop, implemet ad moitor drug educatio programmes; maage drugrelated icidets; ad help youth workers support youg people who experiece drugrelated problems; clarify exactly what the service or project is doig ad what it iteds to do i relatio to drugs; provide a basis o which to evaluate what has bee achieved, thereby iformig future improvemets; reiforce the role of the youth service i cotributig to drug strategies; idetify parters who ca support the implemetatio of the drug policy. Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace 3

5 2 The laguage ad philosophy of policy ad guidace Tesios ca exist betwee policies ad the iformal ad volutary relatioship betwee youg people ad youth workers. Employig professioal discretio is challegig but used well it ca support youg people s learig ad esure fulfilmet of a professioal duty of care. Youth work ivolves thikig through ad dealig with dilemmas. For example, categorisig a youg perso as vulerable may well udermie their autoomy, so might prioritisig welfare agaist learig or ivolvig parets at too early a stage. If a zero tolerace strategy is adopted or boudaries dictated rather tha egotiated, cotact with the youg perso may be lost. Whilst i may situatios there is ulikely to be a clear-cut respose it eeds rememberig that the youth worker does have professioal resposibilities for which they ca be held accoutable. So, policy idetifies a pla of actio, thigs that eed to be doe whilst guidace is a form of advice o how to deal with issues ad problems. The Frazier Guidelies o providig advice o sexual health matters ad access to cotraceptio ca be usefully adapted to substace use itervetios. This would suggest that advice may be give to a perso uder 16 without paretal coset providig the professioal is satisfied that: The youg perso will uderstad the advice; The youg perso caot be persuaded to tell their parets, or allow the professioal to iform their parets that they are seekig advice; The youg perso is likely to begi or cotiue misusig drugs without that advice or treatmet; The youg perso s physical or metal health is likely to suffer uless he or she receives advice or treatmet; The youg perso is made aware that guaratees of ucoditioal cofidetiality caot be offered; It is i the youg perso s best iterests to get advice or treatmet. 3 Leicestershire Couty Coucil Youth Service: statemet of values & ethos Leicestershire Couty Coucil Youth Service aims, i a maer that is sesitive ad appropriate to age ad circumstaces, to provide realistic ad impartial iformatio, advice, guidace, educatio, support ad referral to treatmet that helps youg people resist drug use. It aims also to develop i youg people the practical kowledge ecessary to miimise the risks associated with drug-use, their capacity to hadle drug-related problems ad ability to lear about the wider ethical, health ad legal cosequeces of drug-use. I so-doig, youg people will become Frazier-competet ad able to make 4 Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace

6 iformed choices. Youg people will be treated fairly ad with respect at all times. They will be supported to participate i makig decisios about drug services ad drug issues withi the wider political process. Itervetios will be based o the youth service s model of youg perso-cetred work. Particular efforts will be made to egage those groups at high risk of developig serious problems ad esure that youg people s eeds, lifestyles, geder, ethicity, ability ad beliefs do t stop them from accessig services. Parets ad carers will be recogised ad supported to cotribute positively to work with youg people aroud drugs. The overall welfare of the youg perso will be of paramout importace at all times. Further iformatio Purpose of a drug policy i Drugs: Guidace for the Youth Service, DrugScope, Risk Reductio Model: New Directios, Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace 5

7 Cotexts 4 The social policy cotext Kowledge of the wider youth social policy cotext is importat for effective drug educatio ad prevetio work. This icludes: Trasformig Youth Work (DfES, 2002) which reaffirms the pricipal aim of the youth service to promote the persoal ad social well-beig of youg people. Youth Matters (DfES, 2005) which places a strog emphasis o the active ivolvemet of youg people i the developmet of the services that they use. Every Child Matters: Chage for Childre (DfES, 2004) which emphasises the eed for a holistic ad uiversal approach to promotig the well-beig of all childre ad youg people from birth to 19. The key themes are: Beig healthy; Stayig Safe; Ejoyig ad Achievig; Makig a positive cotributio; ad Achievig Ecoomic Well-beig. This social policy ageda supports the wide-reachig Natioal Drug Strategy (1998 updated i 2002) which has iformed more specific material relevat to the youth service such as ECM ad Youg People ad Drugs (DfES, 2005). This sets out how those resposible for youg people s services ad the drug strategy should co-operate ad pla work with youg people who use / misuse drugs, especially those cosidered most vulerable. The Alcohol Harm Reductio Strategy for Eglad (2004) is also importat ad relevat. This seeks to improve public awareess of the harm that alcohol ca cause ad chage the culture of drikig to get druk. More recetly Safe, Sesible, Social - The Next Steps i the Natioal Alcohol Strategy (2007) has bee produced. A te-year drug strategy bega i April Drugs: protectig families ad commuities, ( ) aims to restrict the supply of illegal drugs ad reduce the demad for them. It focuses o protectig families ad stregtheig commuities. The four strads of the work withi the strategy are: Protectig commuities through tacklig drug supply, drug-related crime ad ati-social behaviour Prevetig harm to childre, youg people ad families affected by drug misuse Deliverig ew approaches to drug treatmet ad social re-itegratio Public iformatio campaigs, commuicatios ad commuity egagemet Locally, Drug ad Alcohol Actio Teams (DAATs) co-ordiate commuity-wide efforts to reduce harm from drugs. 6 Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace

8 Guidace from the Govermet that covers the Youth Service is ow rather old. The 2006 publicatio DrugScope is the most recet ad authoritative guidace ad is recommeded readig. The Exteded Schools iitiatives also represet a importat policy ageda through which Youth Services ca improve drugs services. 5 Plaig Locally, a Childre ad Youg People Pla, draw up by the DAAT Chair ad Director of Childre s Services, idetifies substace misuse priorities ad targets. The DAAT receive fudig, i the form of the Substace Misuse Partership Grat, to support local resposes to drugs ad youg people. Typically, this is bolstered by fudig from the local Crime ad Disorder Group o which the DAAT is represeted. This work is desiged to support the wider activities of the Local Strategic Parterships ad Childre s Trusts, who have resposibility for producig Childre ad Youg People s Strategic Plas (CYSPs) ad Local Area Agreemets (LAAs). Joit commissioig, usig pooled budgets, is part of the stadard framework. These plas, i combiatio, idetify mechaisms for achievig the aims ad key performace idicators (KPIs) idetified i Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003) ad those i the more specific drug-related documet Every Child Matters: Chage for Childre, Youg People ad Drugs (2005). The Youth Service s KPI commitmets relate to uiversal drug prevetio ad work with some vulerable groups. Drug work comes uder the Be Healthy strad. More specifically, the Drug ad Alcohol Respose Team (DART) facilitates a etwork of youg people s drug treatmet providers ad co-ordiates DART traiig courses. The DART is part of the DAAT team. The DART was set up i 2001 as a virtual team made up of specialist drug/alcohol posts withi youth-orieted services. The team icludes specialist drug misuse workers of the Youth Offedig Service (YOS). The DART has three key elemets to its activities: Workforce developmet: Tier 1 ad 2 traiig for maistream agecies i drug awareess ad basic itervetios Specialist advice ad cosultatios for maistream agecies Assessmet ad treatmet provided by specialist agecies 6 Treds i youg people s drug use Drug use rises sharply with age ad is highest amog year olds. Of illegal drugs, caabis is the most commo drug used by all groups. Class A drug use has bee stable sice 1989, though there has bee a small icrease i the use of cocaie. The geeral patter, however, is of a slight fall i overall drug use. This said, illegal drugs cotiue to icrease both i umber ad availability, whilst their relative cost declies. Alcohol is also Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace 7

9 widely available. There are, though, some discouragig treds. For example, girls ow report drikig alcohol as frequetly as boys. The amout of alcohol cosumed is icreasig, ad the age at which youg people first use illegal drugs is fallig. Illegal drugs are t the oly oes that ca cause harm. Alcohol, volatile substaces, cotrolled drugs such as medicies ad other substaces such as khat ad Shisha d Paa, which are used by particular cultural ad ethic groups, are legal. But they ca also be cosidered harmful (Shisha d Paa, for example, is a kow carcioge). Alcohol plays a sigificat role i UK society. Some youg people drik alcohol to ejoy themselves, to bolster cofidece ad to celebrate. Others drik to relieve stress ad axiety ad as a form of escape. Some drik simply to get druk. Uder-age drikig ad bige-drikig are a cause of widespread cocer; the average amout of alcohol cosumed by year olds has doubled i the last 15 years. For some, there is a lik betwee youg people s cosumptio of alcohol ad risky sexual behaviour. Risk-takig may, though, be part of a wider patter of behaviour ad ot ecessarily liked directly to alcohol cosumptio. The causal lik betwee alcohol cosumptio, violece, crime ad ati-social behaviour (icludig fightig ad crimial damage) does, however, appear stroger. Typically, youg male drikers have a tedecy to misiterpret other people s behaviour as threateig ad respod aggressively; ad committig a crimial act is more likely amog both heavy drikig youg males ad females. Both the victims ad perpetrators of alcohol use ad abuse share may characteristics; they are usually 16 to 24-year-old sigle males ad regular drikers, commoly drikig 10 or more uits i a sigle sessio. Volatile substaces, such as solvets, are a particular cause for cocer ad are implicated i the death of more youg people tha all illegal drugs. The umbers ivolved (13 youg people uder the age of 18 died i 2004 as a result of Volatile Substace Abuse (VSA)) are comparable with deaths caused by alcohol, despite far fewer youg people usig volatile substaces tha alcohol. Deaths caused by VSA ca occur from a sigle use. Youg people may eed to take medicies. This will eed maagig both o ad off premises, durig residetial ad other activities. A youg perso may ofte be able to maage their ow medicatio - for example, asthma medicatio, small quatities of paikiller, prescribed medicies such as atibiotics or epi pes for allergic reactios. Workers should kow which youg people eed to take medicies, ad should decide how to store ad admiister the medicies to esure the safety of others. Some medicies are cotrolled drugs uder the Misuse of Drugs Act (1971). They are, therefore, illegal if ot prescribed for the idividual usig them. 8 Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace

10 Ritali (methylpheidate), for example, is similar to amphetamie. It is a Class B drug. Ritali may be prescribed for childre ad youg people with Attetio Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) to help them cocetrate ad maage their behaviour. 7 Detached ad outreach work Detached ad outreach youth work has the potetial to egage youg people uattached to the youth service. As such, it has special sigificace withi a wider strategy for reachig youg people who may be at risk of problematic drug use. Workig away from the structure ad protectio of maaged youth work premises does, though, brig with it specific issues that eed to be cosidered. Detached ad outreach workers ca feel more vulerable to criticism about their approach to drug issues tha cetre-based workers. This is true particularly i the early stages of developig a relatioship with youg people. If they cofrot a icidet of drug use heado, the youg perso may break the relatioship ad avoid them. These workers, o the other had, eed to be aware that o-challegig practice ca collude with problematic behaviours. This ca iclude activities that caot be codoed, such as crime. Workers should be aware that they may be ecouragig truatig if they make arragemets to work with youg people durig the day; these could be misuderstood by colleagues i schools ad colleges. So detached ad outreach workers should make sure that they kow the professioal boudaries ad roles of other agecies. This is also importat for effective advocacy ad appropriate referral. That said, as i all aspects of detached youth work, it is better to urture youg people s idepedece rather tha take over. The oly exceptio is i a emergecy or where there are child protectio issues. Workers should always be aware of the limits of the cofidetiality they ca offer youg people. These limits may appear more blurred i detached or outreach work. Both workers ad the youg people eed to be clear about how much cofidetiality ca be offered o drug issues. They should ratioalise levels of risk ad udertake screeig, as appropriate, i order to decide whe, ad how, to itervee (or ot, as the case may be). Workers who feel they are at immediate risk of harm should always call the police. Youg people who are itoxicated are ulikely to be ameable to cosiderig the issues that affect them i ay depth. Tryig to work with youg people who are druk or uder the effects of drugs is ot likely to be costructive ad should ormally be limited to helpig maage ay related aggressio or other usafe behaviour, or makig sure they get home (or to other accommodatio) safely. Detached settigs are ofte places where youg people choose to sped their time, such Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace 9

11 as shoppig cetres ad other commercial premises. It is appropriate to obey the rules that exist ad comply with reasoable requests from staff or security guards. Detached workers should t take o a policig role but they should tell the youg people that they will leave if the youg people cause trouble. Maagers of premises are subject to the requiremets of the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1971 which requires them to take prompt ad reasoable actio to prevet a breach i the law. Maagers are withi their rights either to eject a idividual or group actig i ways that may cause a breach of the law. Workers should ot obstruct the staff of commercial premises or police if youg people are suspected of a illegal act; the offece of obstructio ivolves a positive ad actively obstructive act, such as physically cocealig illegal drugs or someoe who has them, or helpig such a perso to escape, for example, by creatig a diversio or helpig with trasport. Drug educatio by detached ad outreach youth workers i street-based settigs is seldom structured. It may take the form of iformal group work, lookig at geeral issues such as the law, potetial risks, slag drug ames, alterative leisure activities or more persoal oe-to-oe support. Sometimes, workig with a youg perso aloe may be the oly way to create the cofidece ecessary to explore their reasos for drug use or the factors that make their drug use particularly risky. This process might lead to a referral to other agecies better equipped to provide particular forms of support or itervetio. These agecies may also be able to offer more geeral support to detached ad outreach youth workers o drug issues. 8 Workig i a rural cotext Six out of seve boroughs ad districts withi the Leicestershire are largely rural. Research ito drug misuse has a largely urba focus. It is difficult to cosider the eeds of youg people livig i rural areas because of the lack of specific rural iformatio or research. A rare study from Easy Sussex showed that oe i five 14 to 15 year olds had tried a illicit drug, about oe third had bee offered drugs, ad three-quarters kew somebody who had tried them. Youg people i rural areas become ivolved with substace misuse for a umber of reasos: They have little to do ad feel bored; There is a lack of hope ad aspiratios; they feel that livig i a rural area offers more disadvatages tha advatages; There is limited iteret access ad poor trasport; Prevetio work i rural areas relies o local staff to maitai motivatio ad orgaise travel; There are very few specific drug prevetio projects; May youg people i rural areas do ot come ito cotact with drug educatioal resources. 10 Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace

12 Issues affectig service provisio ad take-up i rural areas: A widespread perceptio that drug misuse is relatively small i rural areas has ofte led to gaps i services; Youg people i rural areas may ot be aware of services or kow how to access them; services may be too far away. Youg people caot always rely o trasport liks. If trasport does exist, it may etail legthy joureys ad be expesive for youg people to use; It is ofte hard for youg people ad their problems to remai aoymous i small commuities. They may feel uable to access specialist services because of cofidetiality of cultural stigmas; A lack of staff capacity, small user populatios ad related ecoomic cosideratios mea that it is ofte difficult to provide a wide rage of accessible services; The provisio of itesive treatmet programmes, while ecessary to prevet relapse, may ot be possible i rural areas where resources are limited. 9 Vulerable groups, risk ad protective factors for problematic use A umber of factors icrease the risk that youg people will develop problems with drug use. But o sigle factor predicts drug use or misuse. This said, the more risk factors the greater the probability that a youg perso will develop problems with drugs. Regioal ad cultural variatios i drug use may also exist. Some risk factors such as school exclusio, uauthorised absece ad problematic drug use i the family ad some protective factors such as havig clear boudaries ad supportive relatioships with at least oe adult are particularly relevat. Risk factors Protective factors Chaotic home eviromet Strog family bods Parets who misuse drugs or suffer from metal illess Experieces of strog paretal moitorig with clear family rules Behavioural disorders Family ivolvemet i the lives of childre Lack of paretal urturig Successful school experieces Iappropriate ad / or aggressive classroom behaviour Strog bods with local commuity A supportive relatioship with at least oe School failure Poor copig skills adult Low commitmet to school School exclusio ad uauthorised absece Friedship with deviat peers Low socio-ecoomic status Early age of first drug use Beig labelled as a drug misuser Poor kowledge of drugs Adapted from Drugs: Guidace for schools (DfES, 2004) Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace 11

13 School exclusio Of youg people at secodary school, 19 per cet reported buyig illegal drugs; amog those excluded from school, the figure is 49 per cet. The figures for sellig drugs are ie per cet ad 29 per cet respectively. This does ot mea that school exclusio causes drug use but exclusio clearly icreases the risk of problematic drug use (icludig alcohol). It is likely that this is due to a combiatio of risk factors: less adult supervisio, greater exposure to drugs ad greater opportuity for youg people to associate with other drug users i the commuity. Self-exclusio (truatig) appears to be a eve more sigificat risk factor. Havig a paret with problematic drug use O average, there is a depedet child or youg perso uder the age of 16 for every adult who has problematic drug use. This equates to 300,000 youg people i Eglad ad Wales. Youg people who live with a drug-usig paret are at icreased risk of harm from accidetal poisoig, eedle ijuries ad from eglect. They are seve times more likely to develop a drug problem themselves tha their peers. Some childre of drug misusers are looked after by other family members or may be i usuitable housig. This ca lead to disruptio of social relatioships ad schoolig. Others may become their parets carers; this group is least likely to be able to access leisure ad other facilities i the commuity ad may eed special provisio. Supportive relatioships Havig a supportive relatioship with at least oe adult is a importat protective factor. Some youg people do ot have ay such relatioships. Youth workers may be i a positio to play this role. The volutary, trustig relatioship that defies youth work ca support youg people who may be at risk from their ow or someoe else s problematic drug use or subject to egative peer pressure. Boudaries Clear boudaries withi families, istitutios ad commuities provide support to youg people who choose ot to use drugs ad to those who wat to reduce their drug use or miimise the harm caused (to themselves ad others) by it. Clear boudaries also support those who wat to take up opportuities ad alterative activities. Youg people are more likely to accept boudaries if they have bee ivolved i developig them ad if these boudaries are clear, well publicised, ad eforced. 12 Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace

14 Diversity Diversity embraces age, geder, sexuality, ethicity, ability ad other special groups who may have particular eeds etc. Drug educatio programmes should take ito accout the eeds of all youg people ad reflect this diversity. BME commuities are more likely to live i deprived areas, experiece poverty, uemploymet, suffer from ill health ad live i overcrowded housig. This meas that they are ofte at icreased risk of ivolvemet i substace misuse. Some problems are icreasigly reported i Leicestershire s South Asia youth populatio, with 14 per cet of youg Asia males ad ie per cet of females reportig drug use i the last year. Caabis is the most commoly used drug. Heroi ad crack cocaie use has also bee reported sice Of these, heroi is more commoly used by some South Asia youg people (particularly amog Pakistai ad Bagladeshi males). The Race Relatios (Amedmet) Act 2000 idetifies specific requiremets that impact upo drug educatio, prevetio ad early itervetio policies ad programmes. Statutory orgaisatios must address racial equality through the DAAT treatmet pla ad cetral reportig mechaisms, ad idetify ad tackle the umet eeds of BME commuities. I South Asia groups, drug-use ca be cosidered a religious ad immoral si that could reflect o the reputatio of the family so there are ofte particular fears about cofidetiality that ihibit service take-up. Other barriers to accessig services are a lack of awareess of the existece ad fuctio of services, ad perceptios that drug services lack positive cultural symbols (for example, culturally specific leaflets, posters, ewspapers etc.), which ca preset a white image (i.e. ru for ad by white people ). To egage effectively with members of BME commuities, it is therefore importat to cosider appropriate methods of commuicatio, laguage barriers ad cultural issues. The followig are recogised guidelies for good practice: Recogisig the sigificace of diversity issues. This is cetral to workig for equal access ad beig proactive i closig gaps i service provisio, reachig ew groups ad makig staff teams more diverse. Usig workers with a similar origi, laguage, culture ad religio have all proved beeficial. Establishig better liks ad positive egagemet with BME commuities. This supports a mutual uderstadig of the objectives of drug prevetio programmes. It should iclude workig with grassroots ad volutary workers ad those active i religious settigs ad commuity cetres. This icreases awareess of referral pathways, aids the dissemiatio of iformatio ad is bolstered by workers travellig to meet youg people i appropriate veues, coductig prevalece auditig ad promotig youg people s participatio i decisios about plaig, commissioig ad service delivery. Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace 13

15 Usig outreach methods ad targetig specific areas. Makig a commitmet to provide eough traslated materials which should be culturally ad religiously sesitive ad they should icorporate images of differet cultures. These materials should be proactively marketed ad made available i places where youg people ad the wider commuity gather. Usig various media, such as commuity radio statios, ewspapers, magazies, DVDs, school iformatio poits (which ca also make liks with parets). This ca promote ad make trasparet drug services ad referral systems, raise issues withi the commuities ad facilitate self-referral amog youg people. Attedig appropriate religious ad commuity evets. Makig specific attempts to icrease the awareess of those who already access uiversal ad geeric services, ad bolsterig the effectiveess of these services more geerally. This icludes diversity traiig for all staff. Reviewig ad chagig opeig times of services, as appropriate. Reachig youg people through educatio, their iterests ad pastimes (such as music) ca mitigate cultural cocers about specific drugs prevetio programmes ad still egage with sesitive issues effectively. Workig with parter agecies to idetify, share ad publicise good practice. Use of the Orgaisatioal Aide Memoir for Drug ad Allied Services Actio Poits for Chage documet to reflect o the steps that might be take to improve services with respect to racial diversity. 10 Workig i partership Partership workig ca take may forms, from workig with other services to workig with local busiesses. Partership is a two-way street. It ca offer the youth service support ad create support for others who also aim to meet youg people s drug-related eeds. This ca be through educatio, advice ad guidace or treatmet. Partership workig ca broade the rage of access poits for youg people. It ca eable good practice to be shared. So it should be see for its value i icreasig beefit to youg people, regardless of whether they access drugs services through the youth service or ot. Youth workers might be the first to recogise that a group or idividual may have drug-related eeds. They are therefore i a positio to itervee early. By workig i partership, youth workers ca idetify other resources (icludig fudig) ad help youg people to access the services they eed. Geeric youth workers ca also play a importat role i raisig awareess of ad facilitatig costructive egagemet betwee youg people ad other services. As such, drug educatio ca also be delivered i partership. Parters ca support youth workers icreased ad cotiued drug awareess ad provide traiig 14 Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace

16 i screeig, assessmet, referral, stadards of care ad the theoretical dimesios of drug work. I parterships, procedures ad protocols eed to be agreed o cofidetiality, iformatio sharig, ad joit eeds assessmet processes. Parters eed to agree decisios o priorities ad plas to implemet these processes. They should make efforts to itegrate differet orgaisatioal strategies, i order to develop cosistecy. Parterships also provide frameworks for youg people s participatio. They create mechaisms for collectig iformatio ad providig youg people a area i which to voice their opiios. If youth workers are aware of local plaig ad referral arragemets this will also highlight potetial parters with whom they might work. These iclude, for example: commuity ad volutary sector orgaisatios; the local Youth Offedig Service (YOS); the local Childre s Service Departmet (formerly LEA), who might provide liks to Exteded Schools ad behaviour improvemet iitiatives; the Healthy Schools Co-ordiator; the Teeage Pregacy Co-ordiator; Positive Futures; Coexios staff, icludig Persoal Advisors (PAs); Pupil Referral Uit (PRU) workers; school urses. The Youth Service ad parter agecies all have a role to play i meetig youg people s drug-related eeds. They must all see themselves as part of a tier of services. The substace of youg people s eeds (Health Advisory Service, 1998, 2001) sets out a four-tiered approach to improvig the plaig, co-ordiatio ad delivery of substace misuse services for childre ad youg people: Tier 1 services are ofte described as uiversal or geeric. All maistream providers, icludig educatio, health ad child protectio, offer them. Geeric youth workers operate i this tier. Their purpose is to esure uiversal access ad cotiuity of advice ad care for all youg people. They also provide iformatio ad advice about substaces as part of a geeral health improvemet ageda. They idetify those they cosider to be vulerable or who have drug-related problems. Tier 2 services are provided by youth service providers with some experiece of substace misuse issues ad specialist workig with youg people. The aim here is to reduce the risks facig vulerable youg people, ad to reitegrate ad maitai youg people i maistream services. Youth workers with a specific brief for drug work are i Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace 15

17 this tier. They will probably be resposible for specific itervetios, such as orgaisig activities to address issues ad problems, supportig youg people ad their families, assessig risk ad protectio issues, ad providig cousellig. Tier 3 is where specialist drug services ad other specialist, ofte multi-agecy, teams come i. They ted to work with complex cases. These services idetify, assess ad deal with the multiple eeds of childre ad youg people, ot just their substace misuse eeds. Ofte this will be through a plaed package of care ad treatmet. Tier 3 services work towards reitegratig childre ad youg people with family, commuity, school or workplace ad other maistream services. They will try to itegrate Tier 3 services with those at Tiers 1 ad 2. Typical Tier 3 services are specialist youg people s drug ad alcohol services itegrated with Child Adolescet Metal Health Services (CAMHS) ad educatioal assessmet ad support programmes. Tier 4 services are specialist medical itervetios for youg people with complex care eeds. This could iclude prescribig substitutes, detoxificatio ad treatmet or residetial respite care. Tier 4 services iclude foresic child ad adolescet psychiatry ad social services. Agai, other tiers of service will be ivolved, typically youg people s substace misuse services ad educatioal support programmes. The followig defiitio is relevat: Youg people s specialist substace misuse treatmet is a care plaed medical, psychological or harm reductio itervetio aimed at alleviatig curret harm caused by a youg perso s substace misuse Workig with parets, carers ad families Parets ad carers will have views about how the youth service should deal with issues about drugs ad drug use. May will be cocered about the possibility of their childre usig drugs. Some parets may ot be i favour of specific sessios regardig drug ad alcohol awareess. I these cases, it may be preferable to explore sesitive issues through more geeral elemets of the youth work programme istead. The fact that youg people usually atted youth provisio o a volutary basis may mea that it is difficult to work with ad cosult parets ad carers. Ay egagemet that youg people have with drug services through their cotact with the youth service does ot oblige youth workers to iform parets that their childre have sought iformatio or that iformatio, advice ad guidace has bee give. That said, the views of parets are importat if youth services are to commit to egagig the wider commuity. There is evidece that workig with families is ecessary to support other itervetios; parets ca play a importat part i supportig the youg perso. 16 Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace

18 Youg people s participatio Youth Matters (DfES, 2005) emphasises strogly the active ivolvemet of youg people i the developmet of the services that they use. It implies that youth workers should be active i creatig opportuities for youg people to make real decisios o issues that affect them. Youg people should be ecouraged to participate i the plaig ad delivery of drug educatio. This icludes helpig set boudaries for behaviour, clarifyig the extet of, ad limits to, cofidetiality, ad idetifyig the issues that are importat to them ad that eed to be addressed. Participatio, ad the importat role that reflectio plays withi this, is itegral to the youg perso-cetred approach that characterises successful programmes ad offer opportuities for owership, leadership ad support for other youg people. The process of participatio, therefore, is closely liked to positive outcomes. Further iformatio Drugs: Guidace for the Youth Service. DrugScope, This documet ad a summary versio is available at: Safe, Sesible, Social - The Next Steps i the Natioal Alcohol Strategy is available at: alcohol?view=biary. The substace of youg people s eeds. Health Advisory Service, 1998, Natioal Youth Agecy s (NYA) Hear by Right framework for participatio is available at: Participatio strategies eed to take ito accout diversity. Cosultig youg people; Developig culturally sesitive alcohol educatio resources; ad Geder ad drug educatio provide useful advice. These three briefig papers are available at: briefigs.htm. The DrugScope ad Alcohol Cocer Briefig Paper Developig Culturally Sesitive Alcohol Resources (2005) looks at the cultural sesitivities aroud alcohol educatio. Drug Use, Smokig ad Drikig amog Youg People i Eglad is produced aually by the Departmet of Health. Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace 17

19 Youg people ad Drug Misuse: Eglad (Natioal Health Service Iformatio Cetre) is a aual bulleti brigig together iformatio from The British Crime Survey, Drug Offeders i Eglad ad Wales ad The Offedig, Crime ad Justice Survey. Departmet of Health guidace o developig alcohol misuse itervetios Alcohol Cocer also has iformatio o alcohol ad youg people: Iformatio o the health effects of illegal drugs: home.asp. See, Caabis supply ad youg people: It s a social thig, Duffy, M., Schafer, N., Coomber, R., O Coell, L. ad Turbull, P.J., published by the Joseph Rowtree Foudatio, 2008, as part of the Drug ad Alcohol series. A summary documet is available at: socialpolicy/2175.asp. The DfES ad DH have guidace for the maagemet of medicies i schools. See, Maagig Medicies i Schools ad Early Years Settigs, DfES, Also at: ils&pagemode=publicatios&productld=dfes ad assetroot/04/11/56/05/ pdf. 18 Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace

20 Drug Educatio 11 Drug educatio ad prevetio Defiitio of terms Drug educatio is oe compoet of drug prevetio. Drug prevetio ivolves drug educatio, law eforcemet ad treatmet. The aim of drug prevetio is to: miimise the umber of youg people usig drugs; delay the oset of first use; reduce the harm from drugs; eable those who have drug problems to seek help. Ivolvig the wider commuity ca help to esure that youg people receive cosistet messages about the harm drugs ca cause. This ca promote awareess of the pealties for breakig the law, support Commuity Safety ad youg people at risk of drug misuse. This might iclude givig beefit ad legal advice, practical help with housig, facilitatig access to prescribig services ad providig iformatio ad support for parets ad carers. Drug educatio ivolves the plaed provisio of iformatio ad skills relevat to livig i a world where drugs are commoplace. Drug educatio ca occur both iside ad outside formal educatio settigs, though oly school pupils are etitled to it (studets at FE colleges are ot). Workers should be aware that youg people who do t go to school, or who are excluded from school or college, may ot get ay drug educatio. The aim of drug educatio is to promote ad provide opportuities for youg people to develop kowledge, uderstadig, skills ad attitudes about drugs ad appreciate the beefits of a healthy lifestyle. What do youg people say they wat from drug educatio? Youg people say they wat to be cosulted o the kid of drug educatio they eed ad wat. They say they wat drug educatio that gives both sides of drugs ad addresses both dagers ad safe use; it should ot tell them ot to take drugs, or ecourage their use. Youg people idetify the importace of kowig where ad how to get help for themselves ad for their frieds. They value havig access to high-quality drug educatio materials ad programmes. They argue that those deliverig drug educatio should kow what they are talkig about. Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace 19

21 Assessig eeds Workers eed to appreciate that youg people may have very differet levels of kowledge about drugs, ad very differet attitudes toward them. Some see drug use as a ormal part of life. Others see it as a affrot to family ad cultural orms. As such, perceptios of eed vary with age, experiece, cultural backgroud, ethicity, geder, sexual orietatio ad the prevalece of drug use i the commuity, ad so o. This diversity meas that workers must assess the eeds of youg people carefully whe plaig provisio, ad, whe appropriate, make liks with other services ad agecies. Assessmet icludes both screeig ad more formal mechaisms to refer youg people to other services. Screeig ivolves systematically assessig eed agaist a rage of risk factors. All youth workers should scree youg people for substace misuse. They should be aware that, o its ow, screeig is ot a absolute assessmet. They should refer the youg perso o to other services, as appropriate. Screeig works best if it is approached iformally. They eed to feel cofidet ad comfortable sharig iformatio about whether they use drugs, what they use, how ofte ad why they use drugs, ad whether they have ay problems. Respectig cofidetiality is importat; it may ivolve explorig with the youg perso how much their parets kow about their drug use. Those udertakig more formal assessmets, such as the staff of specialist substace ad alcohol services, should be qualified to do so. Aims ad objectives Meetig eeds meas beig able to set aims ad objectives that relate to the assessmet of those eeds. Workers should egotiate with youg people to make sure that these aims ad objectives reflect their eeds, ad that they are clear ad uderstood. While aims are the broad outcomes expected from the work, it ca be useful to see objectives as more specific ad iteded learig outcomes. What, for example, might youg people kow, uderstad or be able to do as a result of participatig i a sessio or programme? Achievig aims ad objectives may require workig with other agecies, especially where aspects of drug educatio are beyod a youth worker s expertise. I these cases, youth workers ad their parters will eed to discuss ad egotiate the aims ad objectives, as well as who will do what. There will be times whe referral is the most appropriate strategy. 20 Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace

22 12 What works i drug educatio? Historically, the youth service has used various meas whe workig with drug issues ad problems. These rage from adoptig a positio of zero tolerace, where clubs refuse to work with youg people usig drugs, to itesive projects that provide cousellig, advice ad support for harm miimisatio. Youg people s evaluatio of peer educatio, drama, diversioary activities, ad drug iformatio, advice ad guidace highlights the importace of ot separatig out differet topics, such as sex, drugs, violece, bullyig, assertiveess, risk ad risk-takig, emotioal ad metal health. Youg people isist real life is ot like that. Typically, youg people overestimate the prevalece of drug use ad iflate approval of drug use. Research has documeted a cosistet ad dramatic patter of misperceptios about peer orms. Most youg people erroeously perceive substace abuse as the orm. Work to dispel myths about drug misuse problems is vital. 13 Cofidetiality ad the learig eviromet Some substace use is agaist the law. Youg people eed to feel sure that the iformatio they give will be treated with respect ad will ot get them ito trouble. Cofidetiality is importat for a good relatioship betwee youth workers ad youg people. The experiece of those cosultig o policy developmet suggests that trust ad cofidetiality are the two most importat issues of cocer to youg people whe talkig to adults about drugs. Their worst fear is that they will be told that their commets will be kept cofidetial, oly to fid that someoe else has bee told. Aspects of cofidetiality apply equally to youth workers, youg people ad ay others who may be ivolved i the work, such as those from parter agecies. Youger ad / or less experieced workers may beefit from the protectio afforded by extedig cofidetiality to iclude their lie maagers. Distacig techiques may be useful for dealig with cotroversial or sesitive issues. These iclude aoymous case studies, aoymous questio boxes ad depersoalised discussios. Youg people should be made aware of the limits of cofidetiality ad of the actio that may be take where youg people ask a questio, offer iformatio or behave i a way that suggests they may be at risk of sigificat harm. Workers should be clear about the service s cofidetiality policy ad the resposibilities this implies. If they feel it is ecessary to share iformatio, they should seek youg people s permissio to do so. If they do t get it, Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace 21

23 they should tell the youg people who they will share this iformatio with, ad why. Prior explaatio of cofidetiality is, therefore importat i helpig youg people uderstad ad have cofidece i these decisios. Occasioally, as a result of their discussios with youg people, workers may become cocered about child protectio. I the first istace, they should discuss these cocers with the officer resposible for child protectio issues. 14 Moitorig ad evaluatio Demad, service uptake ad the effectiveess of referral routes all eed to be moitored. This is importat i order to idetify ay gaps i provisio. Needs assessmets ca be used as a template agaist which the effectiveess of the work ca be evaluated. Evaluatio is importat for service improvemet (ad may idetify the eed for chage). It ca also provide the material ecessary for demostratig the value of the work i helpig youg people. Workers should seek to evaluate programmes, sessios of work ad wider outcomes, such as reducig drug use by youg people. Evaluatio may illustrate that a particular piece of work is ot effective, ad help workers decide how to use resources i a differet way. Further iformatio Local authorities, DAATs, CDRPs ad others agecies may all have useful research material o the prevalece of alcohol, tobacco ad illegal drug use by youg people i the local area. This ca help i establishig the focus of prevetio ad educatio programmes ad provide a baselie agaist which youth workers ca measure the effectiveess of their work. See also, Lych, J. ad Blake, S., Sex, Alcohol ad Other Drugs, Natioal Childre s Bureau with Drug Educatio Forum ad Sex Educatio Forum, 2004; this explores the liks betwee differet kids of behaviours i youg people s lives. Ad, First Steps i Idetifyig Youg People s Substace Related Needs, Home Office, Note also, Appedix 7, Screeig ad Referral i Drugs: Guidace for the Youth Service, DrugScope, Cards for Life: promotig emotioal ad social developmet, Natioal Childre s Bureau, Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace

24 The may case studies cotaied i Drugs: Guidace for the Youth Service all provide useful isights ito the diversity of iitiatives desiged to support drug educatio ad prevetio. The service s child protectio policy provides further clarificatio of the limits of cofidetiality ad the actio to be take i specific circumstaces. Youth workers should kow which officer has resposibility for child protectio issues. See also the Area Child Protectio Committee s statemet of procedures. See, Caabis supply ad youg people: It s a social thig, Duffy, M., Schafer, N., Coomber, R., O Coell, L. ad Turbull, P.J., published by the Joseph Rowtree Foudatio, 2008, as part of the Drug ad Alcohol series. A summary documet is available at: socialpolicy/2175.asp. The DfES ad DH have guidace for the maagemet of medicies i schools. See, Maagig Medicies i Schools ad Early Years Settigs, DfES, Also at: ils&pagemode=publicatios&productld=dfes ad assetroot/04/11/56/05/ pdf. DrugScope, 2005, has developed guidace for schools o the maagemet of Ritali: Ritali (methylpehidate) i schools: a briefig paper for practitioers. See Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace 23

25 The Law 15 Drugs ad the law Alcohol requires a licese for its sale uder the Licesig Act, The legal age for buyig alcohol is 18. It is a offece: for ay perso to supply alcohol to a perso uder 18 aywhere, ot just o licesed premises; to sell alcohol to a child - uless the perso charged believed she / he was 18 or over ad took reasoable steps to establish the purchaser s age; or ayoe uder 18 to buy or attempt to buy alcohol; or ayoe uder 18 to cosume alcohol o relevat premises, as defied by the Act. Those aged may drik beer, wie or cider at a table meal if they are accompaied by a adult but it is a offece to let ayoe uder 16 oto premises (to which a licese or temporary evet otice has bee give) exclusively for the supply of alcohol, uless they are accompaied by a adult (aged 18 or over). It is agaist the law for shops to sell solvets to someoe uder 18 kowig or suspectig that they will be misused. Butae (lighter refills for example) may ot be sold to someoe uder 18, i ay circumstaces. The Misuse of Drugs Act, 1971, is also relevat to the youth service. It is a offece uder Sectio 8 of this Act for the maagers of youth cetres to kowigly permit the supply or productio of ay illegal substace o their premises. It is also a offece to allow premises to be used for smokig caabis, opium ad preparig opium. Youth workers are required by law to act, where possible, to prevet a drug offece takig place o the premises they are i charge of. This is regardless of possessio or dealig. They ca cofiscate the drugs or ask youg people to leave the premises. The term premises icludes ay locatio uder the cotrol of the youth service provider, icludig mobile uits, buildigs ad surroudigs such as gardes ad grouds, sports areas ad forecourts owed or reted by the service. Clearly, vigilace over premises ad grouds is eeded. 16 Workig with the police Workig with the police ca be a sesitive ad cotroversial issue for youth workers. It brigs both potetial beefits for youg people ad ievitable tesios. Police efforts to reduce the availability of illegal drugs rely o receivig iformatio from the wider commuity. The youth service is a key compoet of this. However, sharig iformatio with the police could egatively affect relatioships with youg people. Whe reciprocal, 24 Leicestershire Youth Service Drugs Policy ad Guidace