Evidence-Based Practices

The Treatment Research Institute has just unveiled its Parents’ Translational Research Center, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). This first-of-its-kind Center represents a significant investment by NIDA in translational research directed toward parents and other caregivers contending with the spectrum of drug and alcohol issues of children they’re raising.
The unique new Center will fund original research, with the ultimate goal being that the findings can be translated and disseminated in the form of tools that help adults navigate the substance use and abuse that all too often present during the adolescent years -- sometimes with serious consequences. The Center’s projects may also impact parents who have adolescents involved with the juvenile justice system.  
 
The Center’s three research projects focus on different “need states” of parents:

I just got back from the 2010 Joint Meeting on Adolescent Treatment Effectiveness (JMATE) in Baltimore. I, along with other guest bloggers, will be passing on what was shared in the coming weeks. To start off, here's something Dr. Michael Dennis reminded me of while I was at the conference: Chestnut Health Systems has posted a ton of evidence-based, tested clinical protocols for treating adolescent substance abuse, all available for free download. 
Most treatment providers are aware of the Cannabis Youth Treatment (CYT) manuals:

• MET/CBT-5
• MET/CBT-7
• Family Support Network (FSN)
• Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (ACRA)
• Multi-Dimensional Family Therapy (MDFT) for Cannabis Users

>>Download them here.
Fewer are aware of the "Adolescent Treatment Models" research funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that followed on the heels of the CYT research. The basic idea was to see whether home-grown programs (vs. models created external to a specific agency) were more effective than "treatment as usual."

Anyone who wants to see fewer youth return to the juvenile justice system wants to provide them with effective services. There's plenty of evidence about what works, but the problem has been implementing proven programs at scale. 
So a new publication from the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR) at Georgetown University couldn't come at a better time. Titled, "Improving the Effectiveness of Juvenile Justice Programs: A New Perspective on Evidence-Based Practice," it was authored by Mark W. Lipsey, James C. Howell, Marion R. Kelly, Gabrielle Chapman, and Darin Carver. 
It includes a quick overview of the evidence base on what works in juvenile justice, and a review of Mark Lipsey's gigantic meta-analysis of 548 evaluation studies (1958 - 2002) from which are drawn general guidelines on effective practice. 

• Helping Teens in Recovery Starts with a Simple Phone Call. The Science and Management of Addictions (SAMA) Foundation in Seattle is piloting a mentor-by-phone program that now supports 50 teens in recovery after completing substance abuse treatment. The pilot program, "The Recover2gether Project," offers weekly phone calls to teens and two other services. It's funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). 
• Also For Teens in Recovery: "Laughter Yoga." The idea is that laughter -- even fake laughter -- changes your breathing and mood in positive ways. Follow the link to watch teens in a sober high school in Oklahoma trying it out on video.   (Hat tip to the Association of Recovery Schools.)

Do you have to have a brand-name evidence-based program like FFT or MST to effectively reduce recidivism in your juvenile justice system? Or can a home-grown version be just as effective, if it's based on general principles about what works? 
Researcher Mark Lipsey, of Vanderbilt University, tackled those questions as part of a recent congressional briefing hosted by The Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy at George Mason University. You can see parts 1 and 2 of his presentation here:

Using evidence-based practices in the juvenile justice system reduces delinquency and avoids costs. Those of us in the field hear this regularly – but it can be hard to see their impact on a day-to-day basis. 
How do we know they work? Let's start at the beginning. What we commonly refer to as "evidence-based practices" in the juvenile justice field are based on over 40 years of research regarding what works to reduce juvenile crime. Unlike studies that look at single programs, this research looked at over a hundred studies and found what consistently worked to reduce crime versus what consistently made crime worse. [1]

Researchers have learned a great deal about what works in addiction treatment in the last ten years. But many organizations still have trouble translating research into practice -- so-called "technology transfer." 
So there couldn't be a better time for a webinar about the Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Network's Technology Transfer Model, laid out in its Change Book.
Hosted by the ATTC Network's Director, Laurie Krom, M.S. (shown here), it'll be held October 21, 2010, 2pm - 3:30 pm EST. >>Register here.

• Learn more about the ATTC's Change Book: A Blueprint for Technology Transfer.
• Schedule of future iTrainings from ATTC Network.

 
Teens in Lockup - a Documentary and a Photo Project about Juveniles in the Justice System

• Click on the screen shot at right to check out four short clips from "Juvies," an award-winning documentary from 2004 focusing on youth in California's juvenile justice system who were tried as adults and received extremely harsh sentences (photo at right is of "Sandra). You might also be interested in the "syllabus" assembled by the filmmakers in response to frequent requests for additional classroom resources to supplement the film. 

• Photographer Ara Oshagan, who shot the B-roll for "Juvies," recently produced a documentary photo project called, "Juvies: a Collaborative Portrait of Juvenile Offenders," featuring youth in Los Angeles County Juvenile Hall, along with text written by the youth. You can learn more about Oshagan and how his experiences awakened an interest in juvenile justice reform here.

Last week, I received too many links and resources to put in last week's roundup of links related to the juvenile justice system and adolescent substance abuse treatment.
So here's a bonus roundup - there's something here for everyone!
 
Mentoring At-Risk Teens

• I posted about this separately, but don't forget to check out the grants available to support mentoring for children with incarcerated parents from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB). Awards will also be made to states with high numbers of prisoners, and provisions for tribal entities in areas with high percentages of incarcerated Native Americans. Application deadline is July 30, 2010.
• Live in the Seattle area and want to work with teens in juvenile detention or in the psychiatric hospital? Pongo Teen Writing is looking for volunteers to work with them. We've featured writing from teens in the justice system and treatment from Pongo Teen Writing several times before.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has released additional funding opportunities for 2010 -- this time, focused on different aspects of data and evaluation.  
You can apply to: 

• Evaluate what works in addressing girls' delinquency. (There's a dearth of evidence now, so you have a chance to be a pioneer.) Amount: $200,000 to $400,000 for a project period of up to three years. Deadline: July 8, 2010. 
• Propose a research project to evaluate what works in responding to juvenile delinquency. Amount: $200,000 to $500,000 for project period of up to three years. Deadline: June 29, 2010. 
• Help OJJDP compile and disseminate statistics relevant to the juvenile justice field. Amount: up to $2.4 million, total, for three years. Deadline: July 6, 2010. 
• Establish a National Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center to assist OJJDP grantees (and communities in general) in building local capacity to effectively design and implement evaluations of juvenile justice interventions. Amount: up to $1.5 million for three years. Deadline: July 9, 2010.