Wales’ first specialist service for youngsters affected by substance misuse is being launched in Swansea.
Safer Swansea Partnership and its substance misuse action team SMAT will be launching Wales’ first and only single-location specialist service for youngsters affected by substance misuse on March 18th.
The new joint service is called ‘The Place’, and is unique because it will be a single point where young people will be access information and treatment services.
The joint service has grown out of need expressed by young people dealing with substance misuse, their families and those who work with them.
Substance misuse commissioning manager for the Safer Swansea Partnership, David Evans said: “The Place’ is a central part of our action plan to tackle substance misuse in Swansea.
“Too many children and young people are damaged by alcohol and drugs, and some go on to misuse as adults.
“Our partnership is made up of specialists from the treatment agencies and, for example, Social Services.
“We help young people in greatest need of our services. This also means that the young people have to face up to their responsibilities to stop misusing substances – before it’s too late.”
He added: “Press, TV and film makers often highlight the criminal or seedy side of misuse. They rarely show how hundreds of people successfully recover from their dependency on alcohol and drugs.
“Nearly 3,000 young people and older adults are offered help every year from one of the six specialist services in Swansea.
“Some drop out of treatment, but the vast majority stay the course and go on to live normal lives – no longer a worry to their family and no longer a ‘drain on society’. Every £1 spent on treating people who misuse substances saves the tax payer £3.”
The young people in ‘The Place’ will either be misusing alcohol and drugs, or may be seeking confidential help and advice because their parents are misusing.
An increasing number of young people are referred by Swansea Council’s Social Services.
Local Authority social workers will also work with the specialists in ‘The Place’ to tackle the causes of the young people’s misuse, with both services aiming to keep the young people with their families.
Parents and grandparents are also invited to come in and talk about the problems. If the adults need treatment for misuse, they are referred to another specialist service nearby.
The Place project is commissioned by SMAT and will be delivered by Swansea Drugs Project and the ABMU Health Board’s Community Drug and Alcohol Team working with other SMAT treatment agencies and statutory children and young people’s services.
Chief Superintendent Mark Matthias said: “Alcohol and other drug (‘substance’) misuse is a serious problem everywhere and its consequences are far reaching for individuals, families and communities.
“Tackling substance misuse requires coordinated partnership working at a national and local level.
“It is a sad reality that misuse of alcohol and drugs is growing everywhere, but given the size and population of the City and County of Swansea, misuse is generally not greater here than anywhere else.
“However while our problem is not unique Swansea has got a very special partnership in place which is allowing us to innovate with measures to tackle the issue.”
