In this section

• Getting the consent of the young person
• Involving parents and carers
• Not Involving Parents or carers
• Substance Misuse Screening and Confidentiality
• Substance Misuse Screening and Child
  Protection concerns
• Substance Misuse Screening and Common Assessment

Substance Misuse Screening and Common Assessment

The Common Assessment process includes a prompt to consider whether substance misuse is having an effect on the child or young person. Where substance misuse is a possible factor, you should use the substance misuse screening tool in this toolkit to inform this part of the common assessment.

Where there is an existing common assessment completed for the young person. you can also use the substance misuse screening tool on it's own as a supplement to the existing assessment. If you do this it will be useful to share the outcome of the screening process with other agencies involved in the care of the young person. This should be subject to the usual considerations of confidentiality as outlined above.

The common assessment process will give a greater understanding of the young person's wider needs. Where you have concerns about substance misuse, it is always worth considering whether a full common assessment should be undertaken.