Healthcare professionals and partners

The government's new drug strategy places a significant emphasis on the role that employment can play in supporting and sustaining recovery from substance misuse. Jobcentre Plus has been working closely with drug treatment providers since April 2009 to establish referral pathways in to treatment for their customers who identify that substance misuse is a barrier to work.

The NTA and Jobcentre Plus have now published a Joint-working protocol between Jobcentre Plus and treatment providers.

The protocol has been developed to support closer collaboration between the agencies and to promote more effective and coordinated actions to address the employment-related needs of people who are in treatment for their substance misuse.

Jobcentre Plus is undergoing a period of change as the funding for the district drug coordinators ends and as they agree their future operational model for 2011/12.

Rosanna O'Connor has written to drug partnerships about the importance of continued partnership working with Jobcentre Plus. The position outlined in Rosanna's letter has been jointly agreed with the Department for Work and Pensions and Jobcentre Plus. It emphasises that JCP remains committed to the substance misuse agenda and that business as usual will be maintained in the transitional period leading up to their new operational model being agreed with DWP.

Contacts for the JCP regional strategic drugs leads can be found here.