Becoming a Drug and Alcohol Worker

As a drug and alcohol worker you will be providing help to people who would like to address their substance misuse problems, or to people who wish to access support for themselves when a family member or a friend has a substance misuse problem.

This work can span a range of low and high level interventions; from basic advice and information, to harm reduction interventions, through to a package of care planned treatment that will last for the duration that the client is in treatment.

On this page, you can find information about:

• Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks and the vetting and barring scheme
• Volunteering
• Training opportunities and qualifications
• Membership of a professional body
  

Criminal Records Bureau

If you want to take up a post that involves working with adults and or young people, your employer will require you to have been Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checked.

To find out more about CRB checks and employment, visit the DirectGov website, which has advice and information about applying for a CRB check, references and receiving your certificate.

Vetting and Barring Scheme

The CRB and the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) have recently come together as a new body whose aim is to prevent unsuitable people from working with children and vulnerable adults.;

• The CRB carry out checks
• The ISA maintain records of people working with vulnerable adults and young people.

You can find more information on the Vetting and Barring Scheme on the Home Office website.

Volunteering

A good place to start volunteering is to look through the Norfolk DAAT directory of services and to contact treatment providers and ask whether they have any volunteer opportunities available. You can find the contact details of all our treatment agencies in the N-DAP Guide for Professionals, which you can download as a PDF here.

Training opportunities

If you would like to develop your substance misuse knowledge and skills, details of Norfolk Drug and Alcohol Action Team courses are available on our Training pages, click here to find out more.

All of the courses are delivered by experienced and qualified trainers and most of the courses are free.

Qualifications

For the last six years, there has been a major drive to see all unqualified workers in our sector to be either working towards, or to have achieved, a qualification in substance misuse. A level three qualification is the desired baseline for all workers.

If you are interested in gaining a substance misuse qualification there are a number of options for you to consider. Here are three of those options:

The Certificate in Higher Education Substance Misuse

This course has been developed by the UEA School of Nursing and Midwifery and the Norfolk Drug and Alcohol Action Team (NDAAT). It was designed to provide a flexible and accessible route to Higher Education that was both supportive of student learning and responded to the needs of local service providers. There are no formal entry requirements, although students do need to demonstrate their ability to study at level 1 and have the support of their service manager. 

Federation of Drug and Alcohol Professionals / Open University

FDAP and OU Level 3 Diploma  

This is a wide ranging diploma with built-in flexibility to suit all fields of health and social care. This is the main qualification required by the Quality Care Commission in England and the Care Councils in Wales and Northern Ireland. This Level 3 Diploma with an Alcohol and Substance Misuse specialism has been developed by the VQAC (Vocational Qualification Assessment Centre) in collaboration with the Federation of Drug and Alcohol Professionals (FDAP). It enables learners to obtain the diploma with a choice of optional units specialising in working with substance misuse.  

You can find out more about this qualification on the Open University website.

The City and Guilds: Certificate in Community Justice

There are five different pathways available in this qualification:

1. Work with Offending Behaviour
2. Work with Victims, Survivors and Witnesses
3. Community Safety and Crime Reduction
4. Youth Justice
5. Drug and Alcohol Services

To gain the full qualification in each pathway, learners must successfully complete five mandatory units and three optional units.  Each unit is tested by an assignment which is set by City and Guilds. The present National Qualifcations Framework (NQF) has been extended until the end of December 2011.

Find out more on the City and Guilds website.

Membership of a Professional Body

If you wish to join a professional body, the Federation of Drug & Alcohol Professionals (FDAP) is the professional body for the substance use field. FDAP works to help improve standards of practice across the sector.

There are two categories of individual membership: full membership and associate membership.

For further details, including benefits annual fees and membership discounts, visit the FDAP website.

Useful Links

You can find more information and read a profile of a drugs worker on the Direct Gov website. Click here to visit Direct Gov.

Links to other national and local organisations can be found on our Useful Links page.