Supporting Vulnerable People and Addressing Class A Drug Use in Kettering: An Evaluation of #Citadel: Second Evaluation Report

This report presents the findings from the second phase of evaluation of the #Citadel project. #Citadel is a partnership intervention in the town centre wards of Kettering aiming to address the root causes and associated harms of Class A drug use, through a public health, holistic, multi-agency approach. The project has an innovative and evidence-based model, the Drug Nominal Matrix, to prioritise 25 individuals for intervention.
The initial stage of the evaluation reported in March 2021 and involved interviews with key individuals engaged in the project drawn from across a range of partners, undertook an online survey of partners, and analysed data relating to the project.
This second phase evaluation report focuses on the progress made through the #Citadel project since March, assessing data relating to those participating in the project, and further engagement with partners involved in the delivery. Building on the first interim evaluation report, this second phase evaluation report identifies several key themes for the ongoing delivery and success of the project: partnership support for the new approach, information and intelligence sharing, partnership and communication, issues of project longevity, and the definition and capturing of success. The initial period of the project was heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and related issues of lockdowns, social distancing and competing priorities for partner agencies. The more recent period has begun to see the #Citadel project begin to mature in the early stages of a post-pandemic operating environment, which will allow the partnership, innovative approach to grow and develop more in keeping with the initial ambitions of the project.