Information from the Department of Health

Fact sheet 4: Drug Prevention Training for Staff Working with Children in Care

http://www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/HealthAndSocialCareTopics/SubstanceMisuse/SubstanceMisuseGeneralInformation/SubstanceMisuseGeneralArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4002229&chk=7RqtKz

The pump-priming drug prevention initiative was established by the Department of Health from 1998. It involved the distribution of more than £7 million to Health Action Zones, located in some of the most deprived areas in England. The funds were intended to develop drug prevention services targeted at vulnerable young people. Researchers at the University of Glasgow undertook a national evaluation of the initiative. This included case study work within one Health Action Zone, which used its allocation of funds to provide additional training for staff working with children and young people in care. Interviews were carried out with staff and young people. A self-complete survey of staff was also conducted. Key findings and implications for practice are outlined. The full report for the national evaluation can be found on the Department of Health website: www.dh.gov.uk.

The Training Initiative:

The training programme was for foster carers and staff working in residential units. It involved three courses, including a two-hour taster session, a two-day drugs and young people course and a fourteen-week drug skills liaison course. Both the two-day and fourteen-week courses were accredited. In addition to the training, a set of policy and practice guidelines for foster carers and residential units were developed.

Key Findings:

Young people living in residential units have varying experiences of drugs or alcohol misuse. Some had a fairly extensive knowledge of the types and effects of different substances.
Young people reported that, after alcohol, cannabis was the most prevalent drug used within the residential units in this study. Some stated that they used this drug on almost a daily basis. In contrast, most expressed strong views against heroin use and heroin users.

The majority of staff felt they should provide information on drugs to young people. However, less than half of staff felt it was appropriate for them to be delivering formal drug prevention sessions.

Most staff felt a specialist drug service should be involved when a young person was experiencing problems with drugs.

Staff who had received the additional training were more comfortable taking a ‘harm reduction’ (rather than a ‘just say no’) approach to dealing with a young person’s drug use.

Staff who had received training were also more likely to address a young person’s cannabis use themselves, rather than involving the police.

Staff who had attended the training were generally very positive about the courses. However, almost three years on from the training, a significant proportion were no longer working in the case study area’s care system.
Most staff felt that they would benefit from more frequent opportunities to access training about drug use and young people.

Implications for Practice:

A single approach to drug education and prevention in this setting may not be appropriate given young people’s varying experiences of substance misuse.

Targeted drugs prevention activity should build upon negative views about heroin use.

In order to have credibility with young people, staff should be well trained and knowledgeable about drugs.

Informal approaches to drug education should also be adopted. These should make use of more spontaneous opportunities to engage in discussions with young people about drugs.

Findings from this case study suggest that structured drug prevention training can have a measurable impact on how staff in residential units address drug-related issues.

Given the potential for drug-related problems in the care system, more needs to be done to equip staff with the appropriate skills to provide information – and to recognise when a young person requires a more specialist intervention.

Drug prevention training should be more widely available to care home staff, and updated on a regular basis.