Many stakeholders are usually involved in a FreD project. The cooperation structures are established by the steering group at the project sponsor.

The steering group has the following tasks:

• ensuring the flow of information,
• organizing regular participation,
• responding to disruptions.

When establishing cooperation structures, the steering group maintains contact with the actors (shown in green) from the “setting” area. Among other things, this involves

• presenting the project and motivating participation,
• appointing responsible persons,
• agreeing on communication channels, and
• concluding cooperation agreements.

After discussing the situation on site with the various actors, the appropriate constellations are determined, i.e., which cooperation structure appears to be most suitable for which setting.

Actors can include:

• schools,
• youth welfare services, youth welfare offices, 
• law enforcement agencies (police, public prosecutor's office, youth court assistance), workplaces (companies, ARGE, qualification measures),
• parents, 
• youth leisure facilities,
• other settings

In practice, it has proven effective to work on implementing a FreD project in three dimensions:

1. Situation analysis
   This involves determining how and with which legal or illegal drugs young people are attracting attention in the local area. It also examines where young people are attracting attention, whether it be from the police and the justice system, at school or at work, in the context of youth welfare institutions, or within the family.
   Subsequently, an examination is made of which laws and regulations could form the basis for referring young people to FreD courses. Answers can be found, for example, through discussions with key individuals who are particularly well placed to assess the young people and their drug use locally.
2. Establishing cooperation structures
   FreD can only be successful if there is trust-based cooperation with the institutions responsible for dealing with problematic substance use. It is therefore important to establish appropriate relationships with youth welfare services, youth welfare offices, the police, the judiciary, schools, businesses, and youth welfare institutions as early as possible.
3. Maintaining cooperation through a steering groupThe FreD steering group acts as the project's “supervisory board.” The participating cooperation partners discuss how successful the placements are, what feedback there is on the courses, and what problems have been identified that may need to be resolved.