Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

The Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Network hosts regular "iTrainings" in the field of addictions treatment and recovery services. Here's one you won't want to miss. "Motivational Interviewing" is a therapeutic technique that uses research on how people make behavior changes to help counselors be significantly more effective with resistant clients -- even those struggling with alcohol and drug use.
 
Adapted from the announcement:
 
Motivational Interviewing: An Introduction to an Evidence-Based Program and Implementation Process
April 21, 2011
11 am - 12:30 pm PST / 2pm - 3:30 pm EST
Hosted by: Northeast ATTC
 
This webinar will provide attendees with a brief introduction to Motivational Interviewing, its core concepts and treatment approach. In addition, strategies to insure the successful implementation of this evidence-based chemical dependency treatment model will be discussed. A question and answer period will accompany this presentation to allow participants an opportunity to gain further clarification regarding the model and a program implementation process.
 
>>Register here.

Behavioral health care organizations -- including adolescent substance abuse treatment agencies -- face huge changes as health reform takes hold. How do you build a strong, vital organization that provides the best quality care?
We've built a conference around that very question: the 2011 NIATx Summit and SAAS National Conference, with the theme of "Revolutionary Strategies for Leaders." It'll be held July 20-13, 2011, in Boston, MA. (Don't know NIATx or SAAS? Scroll down for more info.)
Who should attend? CEOs, senior managers, and change leaders from behavioral health organizations who are focused on leadership, process improvement, and technology.

• Legislative Victories Removing Youth from Adult Criminal Justice System
  The Campaign for Youth Justice released a report on the growing number of states changing their policies to keep more kids out of adult lockup.
• Hardin County, OH Embraces Reclaiming Futures
  Reclaiming Futures Hardin County got great coverage in the March 26, 2011 issue of the Kenton Times. Random quotes: Scott Mitchell, treatment court graduate, said, “I did a complete 180." Judge James Rapp: "If we are there for [the kids], they will be successful.” Follow the link to learn more.
• Do it YO Way - Mentors Guide Youth in Bristol County, MA
  After receiving training in anti-oppressive practices (follow link and scroll to find webinars, PowerPoints, and other resources), the Reclaiming Futures Bristol County team "developed 'YO', a pilot program which exposed seven young men from diverse ethnic backgrounds to the practices of oppressiveness and privilege."

  In an intense, 12-week program, they worked with adult mentors on "how to be successful in the face of the challenges they face in their daily lives."

  As Deirdre Lopes, director of the H.O.P.E. (Healthy Opportunities for Peaceful Engagement) Collaborative said, "We can tell them whatever we want, but there's no substitute for showing them. That's what really has an impact."

  Click the headline to see the April 5, 2011 story from South Coast Today.

Of the 38 youth in long-term recovery who attended The Young People’s Networking Dialogue on Recovery in December 2010, some began their path to recovery through formal treatment, some via the criminal justice system, some had their family, some had their faith, some had their school, and some had all of it. But there was one single unifying thread woven through each story shared that day as a key to sustaining their recovery: positive peer pressure. 
In her new book, Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World, Tina Rosenberg takes peer pressure -- usually regarded as a negative thing -- and documents many instances throughout recent history when it has been used as a force for good. The influence young people have on each other is undeniable, and obviously peer pressure is viewed as a cause for many of the alcohol and drug problems in our society. But after personally witnessing thousands of youth use positive peer pressure on one another to stay clean and sober, I am left wondering why we can’t harness this powerful force for good. 

Some of you may have heard this disturbing account of a drug court in Glynn County, Georiga, aired recently on "This American Life."
Usually, a drug court may take a year, possible two years, to complete.  For 24-year-old Lindsey Dills, who was 18 when she entered the Glynn County juvenile drug court, she won't be done with it until 10-1/2 years later, counting time behind bars and probation. 
Now, the show makes it clear that this particular Georgia drug court is commonly thought to be run counter to generally-accepted principles of drug court.
But I thought it would be a good time to mention the so-called :"16 strategies" for juvenile drug courts.  (Follow the link for a monograph from the Department of Justice, explaining the details.)
Here they are:

• Youth in Recovery Paint the Town - with a Mural Celebrating Healthy Living - Youth in recovery are eager to contribute to the community, and share their experiences and their creativity. So Reclaiming Futures Forsyth County, in North Carolina, worked with a local artist to help them paint a huge mural about recovery and healthy living on the side of a building (see before-and-during photos at right) that was formerly an eyesore. >>Full story here.
• Juvenile Court Supervisor, Coach -- and Institution - You might not know Lawrence Bass, but you should. He's been a steadying force in the lives of teens on the basketball court and in juvenile court in Guilford County, NC (a Reclaiming Futures site) for 40 years now. The News & Record in Greensboro, NC -- where he works as a juvenile court supervisor -- recently profiled him; check it out!
• Private Juvenile/Adult Prison in Mississippi Source of Profits -- and Abuse - The Southern Poverty Law Center and the ACLU National Prison Project have filed a class-action lawsuit over Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in Mississippi. "If there's mistreatment going on at Walnut Grove and the Justice Department finds that it is, they ought to sue the hell out of somebody," says state representative John Mayo. "I can't understand why we have to be sued to do what's right."
• Where Did the Jobs for Teens Go? - Youth Today has the story on a new study from the Center for Labor Market Studies showing that the number of employed teens aged 16-19 with jobs has dropped significantly. Also: teens who work in high school are more likely to graduate; low-income teens without jobs are more likely to engage in crime.
• Why Juvenile Justice Reform Makes Sense to Conservatives - Juvenile justice reform -- traditionally a liberal cause -- aligns very well with conservative political principles, Marc Levin, of the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, explains in this PowerPoint. This is a great resource to draw upon when you're advocating for juvenile justice reform in your own community -- reform can be a uniter, not a divider. (Hat tip to John Kelly at Youth Today.) 

When I was at the Joint Meeting on Adolescent Treatment Effectiveness (JMATE) in Washington D.C. in December, I caught up with John Roman, Ph.D., Senior Fellow at The Urban Institute, just before he gave a fantastic presentation on emerging research on juvenile drug courts.  Click on the video above to hear what John has to say. Since the video sound is not ideal, I've also provided a transcript, below:

Below is a pretty interesting graphical representation of some of the 2010 data on teen drug use. (By the way, please note that by reposting it, Reclaiming Futures is not endorsing Home Health Testing, the graphic's creator, or its products.)
Now, what would be great would be an infographic showing things like:

• Ratio of youth who need treatment vs. the number who receive it
• Number of youth who receive evidence-based substance abuse treatment
• Youth leaving treatment with recovery resources ready for them in the community
• Number of youth actually dependent on drugs (vs. experimenting with or abusing them) at different decision points in the justice system -- e.g., intake, detention, secure lock-up

What would you like to see? (And does anyone know somebody willing to work on such an infographic pro-bono?)

NOTE: The graphic below is slightly distorted to fit our space. Here's the original.

Here's the problem with adolescent substance abuse treatment: young people who are using want nothing to do with it.
How can you help? You can help their family members get them into treatment.  
Sound simple? We all know it's anything but. So here's your chance to learn a clincally-backed protocol for helping families of youth (and adults) with serious drug and alcohol issues. According to studies done so far, family members who participate the Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) get between 64% and 86% of their loved ones into treatment -- and they're more likely to stay engaged once they get there. 
Now's your chance to learn CRAFT:
Chestnut Health Systems is hosting a CRAFT training session with its creator, Dr. Robert J. Meyers (who was also involved in creation of the Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach, which is aimed at teens). He'll be leading the CRAFT training September 19-21, 2011, at Chestnut Health Systems in Bloomington-Normal, IL; registration instructions are here.  Questions? Email Kelli Wright at Chestnut. 

UPDATE August 1, 2011 - The training scheduled for September 2011 has been cancelled. 

As of March 15, the state of Illinois is cutting its $54 million budget for alcohol and drug treatment and prevention services to zero (full disclosure: I wrote the news summary linked to here).
That's right: zero. 
According to providers, that means many of them will shut down. 
What's left, without state money? According to provider representatives, about 80 percent of their clients (or about 55,000 people) get treatment funded by the state, leaving 20 percent of their clients who are covered by Medicaid -- -- women only, though. The state will reportedly be cutting the amounts it reimburses for Medicaid services by six percent.
What's not precisely clear from news reports is the impact on youth treatment. Prevention services serving about 230,000 youth a year are definitely gone, but children's treatment can be covered by Medicaid - I'm not sure how that's handled in Illinois. However, in my experience, most treatment agencies rely on the volume of their adult treatment programs to support their youth treatment programs. Without the mix, I would guess that many youth programs -- even those billing Medicaid -- might not survive.