The first stage of the Reclaiming Futures model suggests that all eligible youth should be screened for potential substance problems using a reputable screening tool. Screening should occur as soon as possible after a youth's referral to the juvenile justice system. The purpose of an initial screening is to identify youth with potential substance abuse problems for which a more detailed assessment would be appropriate.

As part of the RWJF Reclaiming Futures demonstration, each of the 10 founding communities identified a specific portion of its juvenile offender population to be the focus, or target, of its efforts. The first quality-improvement goal was to create policies and practices that ensured all youth in these target populations would be screened for substance abuse.

The nature of these population groups varied slightly from community to community, but each included justice-involved youth possibly in need of AOD services for whom an appropriate constellation of services either already existed or was likely to be developed during the RWJF initiative.

Knight, John R., Lon Sherritt, Lydia A. Shrier, Sion Kim Harris, Grace Chang (2002). Validity of the CRAFFT substance abuse screening test among adolescent clinic patients. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 156(6): 607-614. Wilson, Celeste R., Lon Sherritt, Erin Gates, and John R. Knight (2004). "Are clinical impressions of adolescent substance use accurate?" Pediatrics 114(5): 536-540.