Culturally Sensitive Substance Misuse Support

Person centred, culturally sensitive, support for black people with substance misuse support needs.

London Borough of Hackney has seen significant investment in its Substance Use support system since 2021 through successive grant awards made by the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID).

Funding for 24/25 is a part of the Supplementary Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery Grant (SSMTR). This grant is a continuation and expansion of funding received in 23/24 and totals an approximate £2.9 million for the financial year.

As part of the project the Local Authority needs to achieve clear aims in line with national outcomes, including increases in people accessing support services for dangerous and harmful substance use.

In previous years the authority has achieved its aims through a programme focussed on underserved communities. This includes older black men, with Culturally sensitive provision provided by Support When It Matters (SWIM).

Throughout delivery SWIM has demonstrably increased the number of older black men accessing support for services, and has played a pivotal role in increasing continuity of care from prison discharge into community services as well as providing outreach into areas of the community. This has been successful, and has led to the organisation and authority being included in Central Government best practice recommendations.

In 23/24 SWIM piloted a self funded project to address the needs of Black women. Partners across the authority, including probation partners, have reflected the success of this approach through the Combating Drugs Partnership Strategy Group as well as Working Groups. These form key spaces in the governance of the overall substance use support system in Hackney.

As part of the submission for the SSMTR the Combating Drugs Partnership, through the strategy group, agreed that a continuation and expansion of the SWIM project was necessary to help further increase the number of black people accessing, and benefitting from, drug treatment services within the authority area.

A submission was made to OHID outlining this. OHID have agreed this funding and support the expansion/development of the service to meet the needs of all individuals in the borough who identify as black where there are barriers to accessing the core treatment service.

This service falls within the scope of the Public Contract Regulations 2015. Consideration was given as to whether this service should be classified as a rehabilitation service and therefore within the scope of Provider Selection Regime (as a health service provided to an individual) but it was ultimately determined that as an outreach service focusing on a specific community and encompassing a wider range of support than health specific interventions this service should more appropriately be classified as a social work service (CPV code 85320000).