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Drug and alcohol worker
Hours
35-40 per week
Starting salary
£20,000 + per year
If you want to help people, and you are a calm and caring person, this job could be ideal for you. As a drug and alcohol worker, you would help people tackle their drug, alcohol or solvent misuse problems.
You could have a variety of backgrounds for starting in this role. For example, you may have dealt with drug or alcohol-dependent patients as a nurse. You may have worked in the probation service dealing with offenders after their release. If you have personal experience of addiction or dependency you could also apply for this type of work.
To become a drug and alcohol worker, you will need an understanding of substance misuse issues and their impact on people. You’ll also need to be non-judgemental.
WorkDesc
The work
As a drug and alcohol worker (also known as a substance misuse worker), you would help people tackle and recover from their dependence on drugs (illegal, prescription and over-the-counter), alcohol or solvents.
You would help clients to access services such as counselling, healthcare and education. Your job could also cover:
- outreach work – encouraging people (clients) with substance misuse problems to make contact with support services
- assessing clients to understand their drug or alcohol misuse and identifying suitable ways of moving them towards recovery
- counselling and rehabilitation – giving support and dealing with the causes of substance misuse
- arrest referral work – supporting clients arrested for drug-related offences
- education and training – helping client access services to help them with reading, writing, maths, IT and job search skills
- healthcare – working as a specialist nurse in an addiction clinic, where you might prescribe medication and supervise detox programmes
- advocacy – helping clients to use housing, employment and healthcare services, and speaking up for clients in the justice system
- needle exchange - providing clean sharps and giving advice on how to use substances safely and reduce harm to self and society
- prison 'CARAT' work – counselling, advising and supporting clients in prisons and remand centres, including support with detox programmes (CARAT stands for Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare).
In some jobs you may cover several of these areas or you might specialise.
You could also have other tasks, such as carrying out risk assessments, designing training and care programmes, and providing ongoing support for clients while they deal with their substance misuse issues.
HoursDesc
Hours
In a full-time job you would work 35 to 40 hours a week. Your hours may be irregular and unsocial, and you may need to be on call. Part-time paid and voluntary work are widely available.
Your workplace would depend on your job. In the justice system, you would be based in a prison or remand centre. In outreach work, you would travel around your district, visiting centres and schools. You could also be based at a health centre or residential rehabilitation (rehab) unit.
IncomeDesc
Income
Employment officers, and outreach and drop-in centre workers earn between £20,000 and £25,000 a year.
Counsellors and specialist nursing staff can earn between £23,000 and £28,000 a year, and team leaders and local service managers can earn up to £35,000 a year.
Volunteers may receive expenses such as travel costs.
Figures are intended as a guideline only.
EntryRequirementsDesc
Entry requirements
You could have a variety of backgrounds for starting in this role, such as nursing, criminal justice, social care, youth work or counselling. For example, you may have dealt with drug or alcohol-dependent patients as a nurse, or worked in the probation service dealing with offenders after their release.
If you have personal experience of addiction or dependency you could also apply for this type of work, as applications are usually welcome from people who have been through treatment successfully.
Volunteering is an excellent way to gain relevant experience, make contacts and eventually find paid work. It gives the employer a chance to see your skills and motivation, and lets you decide whether this is the career for you. Most drug and alcohol support organisations offer volunteering opportunities and training.
You can find volunteering opportunities by contacting local substance misuse organisations. You can also visit the Do-it or Talktofrank websites to search for organisations by postcode or town.
Employers often ask for between six months and two years’ relevant experience (paid or unpaid), and the ability to work with vulnerable people. Employers may sometimes ask for professional qualifications in social work, nursing or counselling, depending on the job.
You will need an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check for most jobs. See the CRB website for details.
For more information about working in this field, see the Federation of Drug & Alcohol Professionals (FDAP), DrugScope and Alcohol Concern websites.
TrainingAndDevelopmentDesc
Training and development
Most organisations will offer you on-the-job training, whether you are volunteering or in paid employment. Your training will be based on the skills needed for your particular job. It may include short sessions on a particular aspect of your role, or the chance to gain formal work-based qualifications.
Level 3 is the minimum level of study for a drug and alcohol worker role. Courses you could take include:
- Ascentis Level 3 Certificate in Understanding Substance Misuse
- Edexcel BTEC Award and Certificate in Working with Substance Misuse at levels 3 and 4
- City & Guilds Award and Certificate in Working with Substance Misuse at levels 3 and 4
- City and Guilds Community Justice Award in Drug & Alcohol Services.
The Federation of Drug & Alcohol Professionals (FDAP) offers a range of qualifications and accreditation for substance abuse practitioners, counsellors and managers. For more information, see the Qualifications section of the FDAP website.
You could also take a university course in subjects such as drug and alcohol counselling or addictive behaviours. Courses can range from foundation degree to postgraduate level, and are available full-time, part-time and through distance learning from several universities around the UK. Drug charities strongly recommend that you check that courses include work placements, so that you can gain practical experience.
It is important to keep developing your skills throughout your career, which you can do through further training and networking events. For more details about training courses and providers, see the Workforce Development section of the DrinkandDrugs.net website.
SkillsAndKnowledgeDesc
Skills and knowledge
To become a drug and alcohol worker, you will need to have:
- empathy and a calm, caring approach
- an understanding of substance misuse issues and their impact on people
- a non-judgemental attitude
- the ability to build trusting relationships
- the ability to work alone and as part of a team
- excellent communication and listening skills
- the ability to work closely with a range of different organisations
- respect for confidentiality.
MoreInformationDesc
More information
Federation of Drug & Alcohol Professionals 
www.fdap.org.uk
DrugScope
www.drugscope.org.uk
Alcohol Concern
www.alcoholconcern.org.uk
OpportunitiesDesc
Opportunities
You can find work with a range of organisations including:
- charities
- housing associations
- health agencies
- local authorities
- the probation service
- prisons.
With experience, you could become a volunteer coordinator or project team leader. You could also specialise in working with a particular group, for example young people.
You may find the following useful for vacancies and general reading (links open in new window):
Job profiles are based on the latest information supplied to us by industry bodies, such as Sector Skills Councils. Please be aware that with the introduction of the Qualifications and Credit Framework there has been, and will continue to be, changes to vocational qualifications. For more information, please check with industry bodies directly.
We do not accept responsibility for the content of external sites.
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Related industry information
Industry summary
Adult social care is part of the sector represented by Skills for Care, which is one of the partners that comprise Skills for Care and Development Sector Skills Council. This includes those working in early years, children and young people’s services, and those working in social work and social care for children and adults in the UK. The social care sector comprises two sub-sectors:
- Adult social care – with a workforce of nearly 1.5 million, accounting for 5% of England’s workforce, and 38,000 employers
- Children and young people – with an estimated workforce of 2.7 million
During 2007/08, approximately 2.3 million adults used publicly funded social work and social care services in the UK. Adult social care includes residential care, domiciliary care and social work with all its specialism's.
There are an estimated 1.5 million workers providing adult social care services and more than 38,000 employers. Skills for Care are responsible for the training standards and development needs of social work and social care staff working with adults in England. This includes staff working in local authority social services and related services, the regulated sector (care homes, domiciliary care services and home nursing services), non-regulated day care and community care services, and employed by individuals for their own or another person’s care and support.
Key facts:
- Of the 1.39 million in adult social care in England: 1.31 million are directly employed; and 78,000 are bank, pool and agency staff, students and others
- The adult social care workforce can also include:
- 25,460 full-time equivalent social workers
- 14,000 learning mentors
- 2,247 educational psychologists
- Of the 14,456 care-only homes registered with CSCI at June 2007:
- 9,870 (68%) are private sector
- 3,251 voluntary sector
- most of the remaining are operated by councils
- Most social care services (58%) are provided by micro organisations (or agencies) employing between 1-10 people or small enterprises (29%) employing between 11-49 people.
- 12% of social care enterprises employ 50-99 people and 1% employ 200 or more.
- In 2007, 54,151 individuals were receiving direct payments to fund their own care.
Jobs in adult social care include: administrative staff, ancillary staff, care workers, community support and outreach workers, counsellors, first-line managers, occupational therapists, registered managers, senior care workers, senior management, social workers, supervisors, technicians.
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[N.B. National and regional data are currently unavailable.]
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