Cymraeg

Alcohol

AIM To reduce alcohol related offending and the associated risks. WHO Offenders who score more than 3 in OASys Section 9 whose difficulties lead to harm/offending behaviour.

WHAT

There are basically three approaches :

1. Alcohol interventions by PDAC (Powys) or Prism (Dyfed), which need to be incorporated into Sentence Plan of a Supervision Requirement or into a Licence condition. This applies to the offenders with an alcohol problem.

2. Alcohol Treatment Requirements applies to the minority of offenders with a very serious alcohol problem who :

• Must have a moderate to severe physical dependency on alcohol, usually indicated by having drunk more than 175 units of alcohol weekly (male) or 105 units of alcohol weekly (female) over a prolonged period of time.
• Will need to show some genuine non-transient motivation to change their drinking behaviour and general lifestyle.
• Will need to be willing to tackle any issues in their lives that, if not addressed, could lead to relapse.
• Will need to be willing to undergo a period of detoxification (approx 10 days) either at home or as an in-patient.
• Will need to be willing to enter residential or community based rehabilitation.

3. OSAP – For details of this programme see section on OSAP.

HOW

In the case of standard interventions from PDAC and Prism, the work will include some or all of the following, depending on individual need :

• Individual support and counselling.
• Alcohol education.
• Drink diaries.
• Identification of community resources.
• Relapse prevention strategies.

In the case of an Alcohol Treatment Requirement, it will be necessary to obtain an Assessment prior to a Requirement being made. An Assessment will require a period of at least 3 weeks to prepare. In consenting to an Alcohol Treatment Requirement, the offender will be agreeing to a range of interventions referred to above (under WHAT).

NEXT STEP

At report/licence enquiry stage indicate need for adjournment for Assessment if Alcohol Treatment Requirement needs to be considered.

Otherwise indicate that planned work will occur to address alcohol issues as part of Supervision Requirement/Licence.

Make referral to PDAC or Prism.

In sentence planning try and involve worker from PDAC or Prism and use SMART objectives.

Back to Interventions