The specialist strand of the service provides a needs led assessment and individualised support plan for young people under 18 in relation to drug and/or alcohol use.

Any young person referred to the service for 1:1 support will be offered a drug and alcohol case worker.

Young Persons Complex Substance Use Team

The S-CAMHS Complex Substance Misuse service provides complex interventions for children and young people with substance use problems at a tier 3-4 level; this is where substance use problems are having significant impairment on physical, psychological and/ or social functioning, or where there may be a need for highly specialist interventions including prescribing and detoxification.

Young people aged under 18 years accessing the service have complex drug and/ or alcohol use disorders as classified under the International Classification of Diseases version 10 (ICD-10), and have additional complexity which cannot be met within a Tier 2 Service such as; pregnancy, mental health concerns (diagnosed and undiagnosed), physical health concerns, drug dependency requiring medical prescribing, alcohol dependency requiring detoxification, those requiring assessment for referral to Tier 4 services, or complex social issues and risk-taking behaviour.

Our activity and wellbeing team help introduce activities to young people, support them with their wellbeing and promote the positive impact activities have on wellbeing.

Whilst leading the sessions at the beginning of the progress plan, our team promotes confidence and knowledge so the young people can sustain the chosen activity.

Activities and wellbeing sessions can be 1:1 and group sessions where our team organize events which staff members bring their young people to. This is a great opportunity for the young people to meet new friends and explore more activities.

With the introduction of activities and the positive impact on wellbeing, the results for reduction in substance use and abstinence have been excellent.

It is recognised that there is big difference between young person’s under 18 substance use services and adult over 18 substance use services and there are times when this can impact a young adult over 18 accessing the support that they need. The transitions service will support young adults with this transition with a gradual, supported process. 

The engagement team work in the community to provide information about drug and alcohol use and how to access further support from Gwent N-gage and GDAFS. This includes workshops, drop-in sessions and events.

The training team provide a free, comprehensive training package for professionals working in Gwent with young people and families. This includes: 

• Young People and Substance Use 
• New Psychoactive Substances
• The Impact of Alcohol Use 
• Social Media and Drugs 
• Secret Stash 
• The Impact of Substance Use on Families 
• Substance Use and The Effects on Wellbeing

Click here to find out more and connect Training

GDAFS work with anyone in the Gwent area who may be affected by someone else’s substance use. We have 3 strands within our service: Concerned Other who are Under 18, Concerned Other who are Over 18, & Parents or Carers of Under 18’s who are using drugs and or alcohol. We offer one to one support, with sessions that may include: substance awareness and harm reduction, self-care and wellbeing, advocacy and mediation. All sessions are bespoke to individual need. We also offer Group support face to face or virtually via Zoom. Click here check out our Website for more information or to make a Referral.

The project is available to any young person engaging with the service. Young people begin by completing a basic learning programme delivered by the N-gage Training team. Once completed they will join a team of N-gage ambassadors and will be offered a range of opportunities for engagement/consultation with the service including interview panels, focus groups, social media content development, events/workshops and opportunities to use their voice to improve N-gage service delivery.