Evidence-Based Practices

For those of you in the adolescent substance abuse treatment field or the juvenile justice system who are trying to implement an evidence-based practice (EBP), here's a synthesis of EBP implementation research from the National Implementation Research Network (NIRN). It covers stages of implementation, research on core implementation components ... and more.
 
What's more, NIRN has also posted presentations on implementation research and online guides to different aspects of what works in implementing innovative evidence-based programming.
 
And be sure to check out these related posts:

• Implementing Evidence-Based Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment? Try The Change Book.
• Handy Reference List for Evidence-Based Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Models
  

 
(Hat tip to Paul Savery, Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Co-ordinator at the North Carolina Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services.)
 

NIATx is working with selected adolescent treatment providers in Wisconsin to identify and remove barriers to the implementation of Teen Intervene. This evidence-based practice has not yet been used in Wisconsin. It is designed for use with teens that are experimenting with drugs and/or alcohol, but who are not “dependent”—a population that generally receives no services. 

Got a juvenile drug court? Considering starting one?
The MacArthur Foundation's juvenile justice reform initiative, Models for Change, recently released a set of evidence-based practice recommendations for juvenile drug courts.
Developed in a statewide project in Louisiana, the recommendations focus on

1. screening and assessment;
2. improving alcohol and drug treatment (along with treatment for co-occurring disorders); and
3. outcome monitoring.

(Hat tip to Christa Myers of the  Reclaiming Futures initiative in Hocking County, Ohio.)
Related Post:

• Here's a handy list of existing evidence-based treatment programs, information about evidence-based practices and tips for implementing your own practice.
• Check out this post for research on what works best when implementing an EBP.

To help organizations seeking a time- and cost-efficient assessment for adolescents, Inflexxion developed the Comprehensive Health Assessment for Teens, or CHAT, which has been found to be both valid and reliable in research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
The CHAT format is based on the ASI-MV Connect, a self-administered, multimedia version of the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) developed by Dr. A. Thomas McLellan. A number of treatment centers, such as the Center for Drug-Free Living in Orlando, Florida, are using the ASI-MV Connect as part of the NIATx campaign to streamline their assessment procedures [PDF].

Want help improving adolescent substance abuse treatment in your community? We've published a lot of excellent resources since we launched this blog a year ago. 
(Yes, we're still celebrating this blog's birthday. Missed our earlier celebration? Check out the list of our top 10 most popular stories on juvenile justice and adolescent substance abuse.)
Here's eight more great posts from our archives, aimed at helping you with teen treatment:

Juvenile Justice Reform Stories

• Wyoming begins making progress on juvenile justice reform.
• Reclaiming Futures in action: a teen mom in our site in Dayton, Ohio, gets off drugs and alcohol and sets her sights on a brighter future. (Don't miss this earlier post on the juvenile drug court there.)
• A U.K. study recommends widespread use of restorative justice practices with juvenile offenders to cut recidivism rates, based on success seen in Northern Ireland.
• A Florida program is fast-tracking the court cases of teens who reoffend most often, mirroring some "frequent flyer" programs that have been tried out for adult chronic offenders in other cities. No mention in the article of alcohol and drug treatment, mental health treatment, or other services for teens in the program. (Hat tip to @justicestudies.)

• Want to do something about juvenile justice reform right now? Then you should know that Act4JJ, a coalition supporting the reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), is now on Facebook. (So is Reclaiming Futures, by the way: come on by and become a fan!)
• Interested in holding a conference on disseminating evidence-based practices in mental health and/or substance abuse? SAMHSA has two $50,000 grants available to help you do it. (Hat tip to the ATTC Network.)

Want help implementing evidence-based practices in your adolescent substance abuse treatment system?
1.  Check out The Change Book (available free from the ATTC); and
2.  Get a copy of Implementing Change in Substance Abuse Treatment Programs, a new free publication from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Can puppets keep kids out of the juvenile justice system? Surprisingly, the answer is "yes."
Because “early onset aggression in children as young as age 3 is the single most-important predictor of later delinquency, substance abuse and violence," Professor Carolyn Webster-Stratton at the University of Washington developed the curriculum, "The Incredible Years," part of which involves using puppets to communicate with young, at-risk children.

Recently, I visited a community where approximately 30-40 adolescents and their caregivers had shown up just to tell me what they thought of an adolescent substance abuse treatment program funded by the agency I represent, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT). They’d been invited, true, but I was still nervous, since folks tend to show up for town hall meetings and the like only when they have something to complain about.