An exploratory profile of the anti-drug authority coordinator in Israel

During the past decade, there has been a proliferation of alcohol and other drug use in Israel. In order to combat this problem, the Israeli government, in 1988, created the National Anti-Drug Authority, a government agency whose responsibilities include the coordination of all prevention, treatment, and research activities that are directed towards the goal of fighting the war against drugs. As part of its mandate, the National Anti- Drug Authority created local anti-drug authority coordinators to fulfill its goals. The study described in this paper presents a preliminary picture of the role profile of the anti-drug authority coordinator worker in Israel. Five major direct practice role categories were revealed in the study with the community assessment and social broker role identified as the most active practice component followed by the community coordinator role, supervision and consultation, planning and conducting anti-drug prevention services, and assisting in community intervention the least active role component. In order to understand the findings, the role categories are classified according to their frequency of practice by the anti-drug coordinators along with the goals, focal systems, and the major tasks toward which each role category is directed. Finally, the study showed a high level of social work involvement as anti-drug authority coordinators.