Community Responses to Drug Abuse National Demonstration Program: A Process Evaluation Summary

• NCJ Number: 165204
• Author(s): D P Rosenbaum; S F Bennett; B D Lindsay; D L Wilkinson; B Davis; C Taranowski; P J Lavrakas
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 21 pages
• Grant Number(s): 89-IJ-CX-0026; 90-DD-CX-0015
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description

Annotation

This report takes a descriptive look at antidrug strategies developed by 10 community organizations in nine U.S. cities and evaluates the planning and implementation processes employed by Community Responses to Drug Abuse (CRDA) programs.

Abstract

In 1988, the National Training and Information Center (NTIC), affiliated community organizations, and the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) developed the national CRDA demonstration program. The program's general approach was supported by prior experience in community crime prevention. Ten sites were selected to evaluate local CRDA programs, and the 10 sites planned and implemented antidrug programs over a 3-year period beginning in May 1989. At the national level, NTIC and NCPC served jointly as program administrators and technical assistance providers. Community organizations in Connecticut, Illinois, New York, California, Texas, Ohio, and Iowa comprised the national CRDA program. Goals of the CRDA program were to empower community residents and make them aware of available resources, to test drug abuse prevention strategies, to introduce effective drug reduction activities, to develop a process through which working relationships could be maintained between city and State organizations, and to develop a local community task force to assist in developing a community-wide drug abuse prevention program. After visiting the 10 CRDA sites, an evaluation team found that all CRDA organizations were very active and participated in a broad range of antidrug activities. CRDA programs appeared to follow a similar program development process; organizations generally started with efforts to mobilize the community and then focused on strengthening law enforcement responses and social prevention strategies. CRDA programs varied in the quickness with which they moved through program development stages, and CRDA strategies were influenced by the extent of antidrug programming already active in the area, prior participation of the CRDA organization in antidrug networks and partnerships, the composition of the CRDA task force, and other community conditions. Implementation lessons and policy implications of the CRDA programs are discussed. 6 notes, 1 table, and 2 figures