This report set out to evaluate the training provided by the Drug Education Workers Forum (DEWF) on the manual in Quality Standards in Substance Use Education as well as the efficacy of the manual itself.

The evaluation was undertaken in three distinct parts. The first stage was the analysis of the one day evaluation data. The one day training took place over five years, 2008 - 2012 and across Local and Regional Drug Task Forces nationwide. In total, 521 participants took part in the training, with 481 evaluations collected in total. From these, three hundred and eighty two evaluations were included in the survey, with another 99 being received by the DEWF co-ordinator after the research was underway and are therefore not included in the analysis.

The second stage was the analysis of the two day training evaluation data. This training took place over five years, from 2007 - 2011 and across four clusters of RDTF regions around the country. In total, 104 participants took part in the training. One hundred and three participants returned a questionnaire, on the day of training.

The final stage of the evaluation comprised the creation of an online follow up survey focused on participants’ experiences of using the manual since the training. This questionnaire was sent to both one and two day participants. Ninety eight people responded to the follow up questionnaire.

Recommendations:
•Given the overwhelmingly positive responses to the training and manual, it clearly signals the need for further continuation and expansion.
•Production of a further edition of the manual is recommended and attention given to simplifying the language used and making it more user friendly.
•Further expansion of settings targeted for participation in training would be of benefit nationally.
•The potential of the manual and training in the building of policy development capacity and competencies is clearly of merit.
•Scope remains within the manual and training to extend the specific section on travellers, parents and service users to include other target groups such as individuals with intellectual disability, minority groups, prisoners and sex workers.
•A follow up/refresher session could be conducted six months after undertaking the training. This can be done online, if resources are limited. This would potentially sustain and deepen engagement and understanding of participants.
•Should training be continued it would be desirable to send out a follow up survey one year after training, in order to continue to gain insight into its efficacy and impact.
•The partnership model and inter-agency planning that underpinned the development and implementation of QSSE partnership can serve as a model of good practice for similar programme development initiatives.