Oxfordshire Young People’s Service

Substance misuse means problematic drinking or drug use. When we say ‘affected’ by substance misuse, we mean that we work with young people who are drinking or using drugs themselves OR who have a family member who drinks or uses drugs.

We offer structured evidenced based psychological and psychosocial interventions to children and young people from ages 8-19 (up to 25 in special circumstances) whose use of substance use is significantly impacting on their social, psychological and physical wellbeing.

We also support children and young people who are affected by some else’s substance use.

Anybody can refer into our service using any of these methods:

• Through the Oxfordshire Locality Community Support Service. The LCSS are the ‘front door’ to all professionals requiring access to children and family services in Oxfordshire.
• A family member or individual wishing to self refer can refer using our Single Point of Contact (SPOC) number which is 07950 301 426 or by speaking with the young person’s school/college or any other agency already involved.
• If a child is already subject to a Team Around the Family, Child In Need, or Child Protection Plan a request for support can be made via the lead professional.
• We also provide brief interventions and advice (usually up to three sessions) that do not require a referral and can be requested by completing a screening tool and returned to us via ypoxfordshire@aquarius.org.uk

Once a referral is received it is reviewed and allocated to an Aquarius worker.