16847 version 3

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Describe alcohol, nicotine, and other drug issues in youth work

Level / 4
Credits / 6

Purpose People credited with this unit standard are able to describe: factors that contribute to the use and misuse of alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs by youth; the use of alcohol, nicotine and other drugs by youth; the outcomes of misuse of alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs for youth; and processes related to assessment and intervention for youth misusing alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs.

Subfield / Social Services
Domain / Youth Work
Status / Registered
Status date / 26 November 2007
Date version published / 26 November 2007
Planned review date / 31 December 2012
Entry information / Open.
Accreditation / Evaluation of documentation and visit by NZQA and industry.
Standard setting body (SSB) / Community Support Services ITO Limited (Careerforce)
Accreditation and Moderation Action Plan (AMAP) reference / 0222

This AMAP can be accessed at http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/framework/search/index.do.

Special notes

1 People awarded credit for this unit standard are able to describe the meaning of the articles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and the relevance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi to youth work. They are able to apply this competence to the context of assessment against this unit standard. For further clarification, please refer to Unit 16844, Describe the meaning and relevance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in youth work.

2 Glossary:

Culture includes but is not limited to cultures based upon: age, class, disability, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, cultures within Māori, Pākehā, Pacific Island, and Asian groupings; including identification with a culture through birth, adoption, or genealogy or whakapapa.

Misuse means the use of alcohol or other drugs that includes or exceeds hazardous use on the continuum of use defined in performance criterion 2.1.

Other drugs includes cannabis, other stimulants, benzodiazepines, inhalants, hallucinogens, and opiates.

3 Other legislation or codes relevant to this unit standard include the Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Act 1966 and Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992 (provisions related to compulsory assessment and treatment); Education Act 1989 (provisions related to suspension and expulsion of students); Land Transport Act 1998; Māori Community Development Act 1962 (provisions related to the control of alcohol and the misuse of alcohol); and Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 (provisions related to the classes of drugs and range of penalties).

4 Resources:

a The following websites are recommended:

http://www.alcohol.org.nz

http://www.aphru.ac.nz/publications/index.htm

http://www.erowid.org

http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/features/youth/.

b Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand (ALAC). 2002. Alcohol and other drugs: A training resource for youth worker educators. Wellington: Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand. Available online on the ALAC website: http://www.alcohol.org.nz.

c ALAC has a series of Pacific Reports available on its website. The reports discuss the place of alcohol in the lives of people from Tokelau, Fiji, Niue, Tonga, Cook Islands and Samoa living in New Zealand.

d Hutt, Marten. 1999. Te iwi Māori me te inu waipiro: He tuhituhinga hitori/Māori & alcohol: A history. Wellington: Health Services Research Centre for Kaunihera Whakatupato Waipiro o Aotearoa/Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand.

e The Alcohol Drug Association New Zealand has a useful website related to alcohol and other drugs at http://www.adanz.org.nz.

f Ministry of Youth Affairs. 2002. Youth development strategy Aotearoa – Action for child and youth development. Wellington: Ministry of Youth Affairs. Available online from the Ministry of Youth Development (http://www.myd.govt.nz), along with supporting documents.

g United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child and Convention on the Rights of the Child, which may be found online at:

http://www.unhchr.ch/html/intlinst.htm

http://www.unicef.org/crc/.

Elements and performance criteria

Element 1

Describe factors that contribute to the use and misuse of alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs by youth.

Performance criteria

1.1 Social factors and contexts that contribute to or nurture the use and misuse of alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs by youth are described.

Range social factors and contexts may include but are not limited to – availability (legal and illegal); price; promotion; colonisation; family or whānau environment; peer pressure.

1.2 Personal factors that contribute to or nurture the use and misuse of alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs by youth are described.

Range personal factors may include but are not limited to – biological; cultural learning; psychological; personality; trauma; loss and grief; shame; pleasure; addictiveness; peer pressure.

Evidence is required of three personal factors.

Element 2

Describe the use of alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs by youth.

Performance criteria

2.1 The use of alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs by youth is described according to symptoms and the continuum of use.

Range symptoms may include but are not limited to – physical and behavioural;

continuum of use may include but is not limited to – abstinence, safe use, hazardous use, problem use, dependence.

2.2 The parameters of safe use of alcohol under specific conditions are described with respect to the age, culture, and gender of youth using alcohol.

Range specific conditions may include but are not limited to – driving; work; learning; in conjunction with other drugs or medication; environment; sexual activity.

Evidence is required in relation to three specific conditions.

Element 3

Describe the outcomes of misuse of alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs for youth.

Performance criteria

3.1 The outcomes of the use and misuse of alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs are described with respect to the health of young people’s use of alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs.

Range health – emotional, mental, physical, spiritual.

3.2 The outcomes of the use and misuse of alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs are described with respect to the health of others affected by the use.

Range health – emotional, mental, physical, spiritual;

others affected may include but are not limited to – partners; family or whānau.

3.3 The use and misuse of a mixture of drugs by youth is described in terms of the outcomes of the use.

Range mixture – mixture of alcohol and one other drug; mixture of two drugs other than alcohol; poly-drug abuse; mixture of alcohol or other drug with a prescribed medication.

Evidence is required of one example of each.

Element 4

Describe processes related to assessment and intervention for youth misusing alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs.

Performance criteria

4.1 Assessment and intervention processes relevant to youth misusing alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs are described.

Range processes may include but are not limited to – screening; assessment; cultural assessment; treatment (including brief treatment and longer term treatment); after care.

Please note

Providers must be accredited by NZQA, or an inter-institutional body with delegated authority for quality assurance, before they can report credits from assessment against unit standards or deliver courses of study leading to that assessment.

Industry Training Organisations must be accredited by NZQA before they can register credits from assessment against unit standards.

Accredited providers and Industry Training Organisations assessing against unit standards must engage with the moderation system that applies to those standards.

Accreditation requirements and an outline of the moderation system that applies to this standard are outlined in the Accreditation and Moderation Action Plan (AMAP). The AMAP also includes useful information about special requirements for organisations wishing to develop education and training programmes, such as minimum qualifications for tutors and assessors, and special resource requirements.

Comments on this unit standard

Please contact the Community Support Services ITO Limited (Careerforce) if you wish to suggest changes to the content of this unit standard.

Ó New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2012