The effects of allowing participants in a juvenile drug program to extend their participation in the program

The practice of allowing juvenile participants in a drug intervention program to extend their participation in the program was examined. The program's therapists felt that such additional participation would be therapeutically beneficial to the juveniles, but at the same time it would deny other juveniles entrance into the program. The results suggest that the practice of allowing participants to attend additional groups in programs which are rather highly structured is not beneficial, and in some cases may result in a loss of the gains made during the initial group.