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New Initiatives in Improving Youth and Family Outcomes by Importing Evidence-Based Practices

NCJ Number
223254
Journal
Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse Volume: 17 Issue: 3 Dated: 2008 Pages: 27-45
Author(s)
Cindy M. Schaeffer; Lisa Saldana; Scott W. Henggeler; Cynthia Cupit Swenson; Melisa D. Rowland
Date Published
2008
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This article describes three community-based research projects designed to improve the effectiveness of adolescent substance-abuse treatment and prevention; preliminary results are presented for the outcomes of each project.
Abstract
The outcomes of each of the projects show promise for the use of the method in substance-abuse treatment and prevention in the "real world." One initiative, Transport Contingency Management (CM) to Community-based Practitioners, addresses the science-service gap by examining the factors that predict whether "real-world" service providers will choose to learn about and use an evidence-based practice with their substance-abusing clients. The project is divided into two phases, the first of which has been completed. Its primary objectives were to determine whether the leadership in mental and substance-abuse treatment agencies would support practitioner training in CM; whether they would attend a 1-day CM workshop provided at a convenient time and place; the predictors of workshop attendance; and reasons why practitioners chose to attend or not to attend. The second phase of the project is currently underway. Its goal is to assess the subsequent acceptance and implementation of CM among those who attended a CM workshop and were provided with the resources to use the model. The second initiative, the Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA) to Support Caregivers Project, aims to improve the effectiveness of multisystemic therapy (MST) for delinquent youth and their families by importing empirically supported protocols that address caregiver substance abuse. The third initiative, the Building Stronger Families Project, extends the treatment of caregiver substance abuse to families with a substantiated incident of child abuse and neglect. 45 references