It’s easier to give services a call when you know what you might expect from them.

Seeking support can be frightening, especially if you don’t know what to expect. Here is the low down on what you can expect.

When you first seek support you will probably participate in an ‘assessment’. Different services might have slightly different ways of going about assessment but there are pretty similar. The assessment isn’t about grading you, but about understanding what you need. It’s about getting to know you, what’s going on, and what help you’re after.

The worker will ask you questions about your drug use, (you can be honest, they’ve heard it all!) and questions about other areas of your life. This is to understand if there’s anything else you might want help with, and to see how other things in your life influence you and your drug use.

You’ll be asked about where you live, your family, and your mental and emotional wellbeing, physical health and some other areas.
Services collect this information to get a ‘big picture’ of who you are and to help support you most effectively. You never have to answer anything you don’t want and only have to give as much information as you are comfortable with. All your information is confidential.

These are the same kinds of things we might talk about when you call YoDAA. Our team work to get an idea of what is going on for you and what support options will suit you best. Sometimes we can use this information to refer you on to face to face services, or for us to provide direct phone support to you.

If an assessment is completed and you are referred to a support service, you may go on a wait list. This means there is a wait until a worker is available to work with you 1:1. While you wait, check in support is still available. Services might connect to you to get an update on what is going on for you. You can also talk about concerns that have come up since assessment.