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SECTION 3 - ADPs: INFLUENCING SINGLE OUTCOME AGREEMENTS

53. This section focuses on your role in influencing Single Outcome Agreements ( SOAs), working with the community planning partners, the local authority, NHS Boards and other local agencies.

54. As explained earlier, from 2009-10 Single Outcome Agreements will be agreed with Community Planning Partnerships and a key role for you will be influencing the negotiations to ensure that appropriate priority is given to tackling alcohol and drug misuse. For example, if you work in an area which has serious alcohol or drugs issues then this should be reflected in the SOA in the local context section and in the local outcomes and indicators; you should also ensure appropriate links are made in the SOA to local strategies and plans. You may want to use some of the example intermediate outcomes to explain how these should help to achieve the high-level and National Outcomes. The diagram below, Figure 3, emphasises these levels of outcomes.

Figure 3: The link between the different levels of outcomes -those important to influencing the SOA process are highlighted in yellow.

55. As explained earlier, the outcomes have been split into four themes:

• Recovery;
• Children Affected by Parental Substance Misuse ( CAPSM);
• Enforcement and Availability; and
• Prevention.

Recovery - Specialist and generic services (Treatment & harm minimisation and health, social care, housing etc)

56. Recovery as an achievable goal is a concept pioneered in recent years with great success in the field of mental health. The strength of the recovery principle is that it can bring about a shift in thinking - a change in attitude both by service providers and by the individual with the substance problem. There is no right or wrong way to recover. Recovery is about helping an individual achieve their full potential - with the ultimate goal being what is important to the individual, rather than the means by which it is achieved. A recovery approach concentrates on the users' strengths, not on their deficits, it enables the person to feel hope, to have aspirations. It is non stigmatising and encourages people to build social networks and to integrate fully with the resources, institutions and activities that other people around them take part in.

57. Helping service users to recover from their substance misuse problems should enable them to integrate into the community and contribute to society; ultimately their recovery should help to achieve National Outcomes. In order to do this, your local area may want to work towards achieving the following high-level outcomes:

58. The following list of intermediate outcomes should help your local area to achieve some or all of the high-level outcomes listed in the box above. The list is by no means exhaustive and has been provided to give you some example outcomes and potential indicators which may be relevant to your local area. As mentioned earlier, some of the measures/indicators are not currently available through routine data collection and you will need to consider how best to gather the information and monitor them.

Children Affected by Parental Substance Misuse ( CAPSM)

59. Best estimates suggest that more than 65,000 children may be affected by parental alcohol misuse and 40-60,000 children may be affected by parental drug misuse. Children who live with parents who have drug and alcohol problems are among the most vulnerable . Children and young people in this situation require particular support and care to ensure they share in the same high aspirations and outcomes we want for all of Scotland's children .Getting It Right For Every Child is the Government's policy for addressing the needs of all children - and it provides the framework within which public agencies can work better together with a focus on improving outcomes for children. Building the capacity of families and communities to engage in activities that support children is central to this approach. The Early Years and Early Intervention Framework developed jointly by the Scottish Government and CoSLA will ensure a strong focus on what needs to be done to ensure that all children, including the most vulnerable, get the best start in life.

60. Achieving outcomes specific to children affected by parental substance misuse is clearly a priority issue across the country and should, ultimately, help to achieve National Outcomes. In contributing to this, your local area may want to work towards achieving the following high-level outcomes:

61. The following list of intermediate outcomes should help your local area to achieve some or all of the high-level outcomes listed in the box above. The list is by no means exhaustive and has been provided to give you some example outcomes and potential indicators which may be relevant to your local area.

Enforcement and Availability

62. Clearly there are very different enforcement and availability issues related to alcohol and drugs given that, in simple terms, it is legal to buy and use alcohol but not most drugs. However, there is also a great deal of overlap, as tackling both drugs and alcohol related problems can contribute to achieving the same higher level outcomes.

63. In both cases, enforcement and availability policy development is undertaken at the national level; however, services in your local area may have a role in supporting or enforcing this.

Drugs:

64. It is important that we continue to take steps to reduce the harms caused by illegal drugs by enforcing current laws and reducing and disrupting supply whilst assisting individuals in their road to recovery. Prevention work may need to be carried out in partnership, for example police working with local services, to ensure that the impact of action is considered and measures put in place to respond to it, eg provision of additional support should supply be disrupted. It is important that enforcement is designed to meet the needs of your local area.

Alcohol:

65. The discussion paper on changing Scotland's relationship with alcohol contained a number of proposals to control access and availability of alcohol. While Government sets the national context, Licensing Boards and police forces have a key role to play in ensuring laws and regulations are implemented and enforced.

66. In order to help to achieve National Outcomes, your local area may want to work towards achieving the following high-level outcomes:

67. The following list of intermediate outcomes should help your local area to achieve some or all of the high-level outcomes listed in the box above. The list is by no means exhaustive and has been provided to give you some example outcomes and potential indicators which may be relevant to your local area.

Prevention: changing attitudes, environment and culture

68. It is generally accepted that it is better to prevent problem substance use than to treat established drug and alcohol problems. It is essential that accurate information is provided to the public, so they can make well informed decisions. It is also important to communicate with, educate and provide diversionary activities for young people.

69. A lot of prevention work aims to help us make positive, healthier lifestyle choices; and it is recognised that this can be very hard to measure because it is difficult to prove which activity or opportunity caused any change in attitude or behaviour if this was required.

70. NHS Boards have a target to deliver alcohol brief interventions - short motivational interviews which are intended to help individuals think about their alcohol consumption and change their behaviour. Delivery of these in significant numbers may bring about population change and help meet National Outcomes.

71. In order to help to achieve National Outcomes, your local area may want to work towards achieving the following high-level outcomes:

72. Activity which delivers the intermediate outcomes below could help your local area to achieve some or all of the high-level outcomes listed in the box above. The list is by no means exhaustive and has been provided to give you some example outcomes and potential indicators which may be relevant to your local area.

Intermediate outcomes related to Prevention:

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