Young People & Substance Misuse

What is being done in Cambridgeshire to Tackle this?

The aim of Cambridgeshire Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) is to help young people resist drug and alcohol misuse and to achieve their full potential in society. A wide range of programmes are in existence across Cambridgeshire supporting the education, prevention and treatment needs of young people in relation to substance misuse.

There are a variety of programmes being run across the county that aim to meet the substance misuse needs of young people. The Commissioning group ensures the Young People's Partnership Grant is being spent appropriately.

Cambridgeshire Personal Health Social Education (PSHE) Service provides support for schools in teaching drug education and awareness from the ages of 4 - 16. Primary schools have been involved in a draw and write survey called "Dogs and Rugs", which looks at the drug awareness and knowledge of 5-11 year olds. Secondary schools undertook the Balding Health Related Behaviour Survey during summer 2002, providing invaluable information about the drug and alcohol use of young people at district council level. This enables a better understanding of young people's knowledge in order to better target drug and alcohol education.

In conjunction with this, drug awareness evenings for parents are held in both primary and secondary schools, where parents can get advice and information about substance misuse and their children. These are held in secondary schools every other year and primary schools every three years. Funding is available to develop drug awareness for parents in non-school settings and for "hard to reach" parents to receive information. An example of where this has happened effectively is drug awareness within the travelling community across Cambridgeshire, which has been recognised by the Home Office as an example of good practice.

The FRANK helpline has now been up and running for five years providing help for young people and their parents who are concerned or have questions about drugs. Cambridgeshire DAAT continue to promote this widely as a useful resource for young people and their parents across the county.

The PSHE service, have been leading on Community Drugs Policies across the county. The policy encourages a shared approach to drug education and managing drug related situations and incidents, so that young people and those working or living with them experience consistent messages and practice.

The DAAT also recognises that early interventions stop substance misuse escalating, this is especially true with vulnerable young people. Young people who become involved with the Youth Offending Team are screened for substance misuse concerns, and are then referred to specialist workers within the team who will deliver appropriate interventions. These workers also link up with relevant agencies to ensure that the young person is supported in accessing wider support or more specialist treatment. A specialist Young People's Substance Misuse Treatment Service has been developed through the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health NHS Partnership Trust. This service works with under 19s who are misusing drugs and/or alcohol and require more specialist treatment.

It is vital that all young people have access to a range of drug and alcohol misuse interventions countywide, this ranges from information sessions at youth clubs, advice and information and counselling. Currently provision is fairly equitable across the county. There are a drug worker and an alcohol worker to cover each area in the county (Huntingdonshire, Fenland, Cambridge City, South and East Cambs).

An analysis of training, support and supervision needs for all generic staff working with young people was conducted in 2004 and revealed that a number of professionals working with young people required training on various aspects of substance misuse. Extensive training has been provided since then but to ensure that we are aware of current training needs this process of a training needs analysis is due to be repeated this year. In the meantime a programme of training is ongoing

The Drug & Alcohol Action Team links with the Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership to ensure the planning of the Young People's Substance Misuse Service is fully integrated into the wider planning for children and young people.

If you have any questions about work to tackle substance misuse in Cambridgeshire, please contact Vickie Crompton, DAAT Co-ordinator on 01223 713067.

A wide range of programmes exists across Cambridgeshire to support the education, prevention and treatment needs of young people in relation to substance misuse. This work is overseen by the Young People Substance Misuse Group, which advises the DAAT.

Last updated: 12 November 2008