The main overarching aim of the project was to empower individuals, families, young people and communities so that they can exercise greater control over the negative impacts of drug and alcohol misuse and addiction on their lives. As a secondary impact this will improve treatment outcomes for individual substance misusers, and those suffering from addiction.
We achieved this through a programme of education, training, involvement, and empowerment for beneficiaries, and a focus on knowledge exchange, improved skills, and closer working for professionals.
Best practice and innovative solutions were established by working closely in crossborder partnership. Partners demonstrated and shared a wide area of expertise, and we put this learning into practice throughout the delivery of our activities.
The CAFTA network has shown positive within partner organisations. Several new unforeseen pilots and activities have begun outside of CAFTA funding, and it is hoped that the working relationship between partners is one that will last into the future.
Many aspects of the programme were developed through a bottom-up approach, working alongside our stakeholders through working groups, networks and consultation. We also aimed for and sustained change.

ACTIVITY 1

The CAFTA Working Group was set up and met 6 times over the course of the project, helped develop and feed into activities, share information between stakeholders, and promote the project.

Each partner held two local conferences as planned. These were a success. We learned early on that partner attendance at local conferences was not seen as being useful for exchanging learning.

Very successful training programmes for social workers were developed in each partner area. We exchanged our learning and ways of working with each other at a crossborder meeting.



ACTIVITY 2

Each partner delivered their own successful educational initiative for young people. LP created a teaching pack for all primary schools in the city. PP2 developed their “virtual court” programme to focus more on drug & alcohol issues. PP3 delivered 3 new training packages for under 12s, vocational schools and special schools. All had great results.

Each partner delivered their own successful training and support package for families or carers who have experienced issues with a family member’s substance misuse issues. LP delivered the CATT Project, PP2 developed the Julien Project, and PP3 developed Parental Gatherings intervention and implemented the Homeparties project.



ACTIVITY 3

All partners delivered some restorative justice activity. LP: Community Conferencing pilot explored and restorative film for young people completed and rolled out to Youth Service. PP2 worked with young people and families with addiction issues to integrate them better into the community. PP3 developed Samen Sterk family conference model.

All partners have delivered community engagement activities as planned. LP successfully completed the community audit pilot and are taking the model and learning forward beyond CAFTA. PP2 used mediation staff to connect with communities where addiction problems exist, acting as a community contact point and leading on prevention work with individuals. PP3 delivered their community engagement pilot, arranging 16 area committees in priority areas to develop a resident response to drug & alcohol issues.

ACTIVITY 1

• 11 local networks for professionals, communities, families & young people

• 5 conferences held.

• 3 vocational training programmes developed & delivered and over 1,200 professionals trained



ACTIVITY 2

• 5 education packs, initiatives or e-education tools for young people.

• Over 350 family members received enhanced training

• 3 focus groups with family members

- PP3 additional results between start of programme and 2013:

• 50% reduction in use of alcohol & cannabis among 14-15 yr olds

• Bingedrinking: reduction from 18% to 9% among 14-15 year olds

• Use of cannabis: lifetime use dropped from 11% to 4% among 14-15 year olds

• National Institute for Mental Health and Addiction report these results are ‘spectacular’



ACTIVITY 3

• 3 Restorative Justice or Community Conferencing programmes developed.

• 5 community engagement programmes

• 16 street level audits delivered in UK.

• Over 430 residents took part in programme in the UK

• 51% of residents felt things had got better, 42% reported that they had stayed the same. A good result for areas where issues have been getting worse before CAFTA

• 150 to 200 residents took part in pilot programme in Rotterdam.

- LP additional results:

• 1 restorative film project completed

- PP3 additional results:

• 16 area committees held

Beneficiaries of Activity 1:

• Local professionals, stakeholders and services from the 3 partner areas who deal with substance misuse issues as a part of their work.

• Families and communities including young people who are affected by another’s substance misuse or addiction



Beneficiaries of Activity 2:

• Young people affected by substance misuse or addiction issues, either directly or through someone they know.

• Family members or carers affected by another’s substance misuse or addiction issues

• Although we are not specifically targeting individuals affected by substance misuse themselves, the education of those around them will be of benefit to them.



Beneficiaries of Activity 3:

• Communities experiencing minor criminal behaviour or damage as a result of drug & alcohol misuse.

• Young people taking part in minor criminal behaviour or damage as a result of drug & alcohol misuse.

• Services dealing with drug and alcohol issues, anti-social behaviour, or crime.

• Residents who wish to become more involved in their community.

• Residents of communities targeted by engagement pilots.

• Services that require community involvement to feed into their work.



Benefit for each territory

As already noted, all partners were actively involved in all activities and had an impact on the above beneficiaries. Partners did have slightly different priorities at the start of the project therefore the scale of work with particular stakeholders did vary. LP’s main focus was on communities, and PP2 and PP3 focussed more on young people. These different focusses were great for learning from each other and did impact upon partners during the course of the project.

LP:

• Over 250 professionals trained. 93% of attendees said training was ‘excellent’, remaining 7% said it was ‘good’. Family support service reported increased referral rate of around 30%.

• Family training demonstrated outcomes for 15 families:

• Increased knowledge about the treatment system (42% increase)

• Increased confidence in supporting children affected by familial substance misuse (62% increase)

• Greater knowledge of local support networks (40% increase)

• Confidence in responding to the substance misuser in a way that supports their recovery (42% increase)

Community Audits reached over 430 residents:

• 51% of residents felt things had got better, 42% reported that they had stayed the same. A good result for areas where issues have been getting worse before CAFTA

• 22% of residents felt unsafe at 1st audit, after intervention this changed to 13%.

PP2:

Many results reported as approved in application form, but outcomes not reported. For example 3,000 young people have used a new education pack. Positive impact of results has been annecodtally reported but not quantified.

PP3:

Parents & Professionals:

• Training of professionals: over 1,000 professionals trained on screening and referral

• Homeparties & Parental Gatherings reached approx 300 parents: 54% of parents reported they were confident they could have an impact on their children’s substance misues.

Education:

• 50% reducation in use of alcohol and cannabis among 14-15 year olds between start of the programme in 2009/2010 and 2013

• Bingedrinking: reduction from 18% to 9% among 14-15 year olds in 4 years

• Use of cannabis: lifetime use dropped from 11% to 4% among 14-15 year olds in 4 years

• According to National Institute for Mental Health and Addiction the Rotterdam results are ‘spectacular’

There have been many advantages of working in a crossborder way but the key one has definitely been around learning and development. The programme of learning exchanges has proven extremely valuable both with the development of CAFTA activities and beyond.



Both PP2 and PP3 were influenced in the development of activity 3 by LP’s Neighbourhood Liaison Model, and LP took a more concentrated approach on young people.



A good example of how crossborder exchanges have influenced partner organisations outside of CAFTA is the piloting of Rotterdam’s Parent Contracts project in Brighton & Hove. This was as a direct result of a crossborder exchange including schools development staff. The project is currently being piloted in two schools in Brighton and depending on success will be rolled out to all schools in the city.

This has been achieved through the SNAP Cluster Initiative which has linked CAFTA to the 2-Seas DNA project. This has been a very valuable partnership and has great increased our learning and brought CAFTA partners closer.

We have many successes in terms of sustainability. As a part of our SNAP Cluster project we will submit a list of all partners CAFTA activities with information on how each has been sustained.



Some large pieces of work will continue into the future. For example: LP’s Community Engagement model will continue into 2015 and hopefully into the foreseeable future with 2 full-time dedicated posts delivering this work funded through the council. PP2 have developed, expanded and rolled out their young people’s education package “virtual court”, which will continue to be used within Calais’ secondary schools. PP3 have had a huge impact on Rotterdam’s city policy on drugs and alcohol and their work with young people has changed the way that education is delivered in primary, vocational and secondary schools. There are many more examples of sustained projects, policy or practice that will be presented at the end of the SNAP Cluster Initiative.

All partners have ended the project with a strong working relationship which was continued for a time through the SNAP Cluster initiative. Now the CAFTA project has ended, LP and PP3 have explored other funding streams and have expressed a real interest in working together again.