Preventing and reducing substance use among institutionalized adolescents

The Residential Student Assistance Program, serving high-risk, multiproblem, inner-city, primarily African-American and Latino youth, was evaluated for its ability to prevent and decrease alcohol and other drug use. Participants were drawn from several adolescent residential facilities: three foster care sites for abused, neglected, orphaned, or troubled adolescents, a nonsecure facility for adjudicated juvenile offenders, a treatment center for teens with severe psychiatric problems, and a locked county correctional facility. In addition, comparison groups were employed. A 5th-year outcome evaluation documented the program's effectiveness in both preventing and reducing substance use among participants, with impact related to program dosage. Qualitative process data clarified and strengthened confidence in the quantitative outcomes.