NCJ Number
160116
Journal
Perspectives Volume: 20 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1996) Pages: 37-43
Date Published
1996
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Adolescent drug use and delinquent behavior are complex and interrelated phenomena, and guidelines for identifying and intervening with drug-involved youth are offered based on a project conducted by the American Probation and Parole Association between October 1990 and December 1994.
Abstract
The project was conducted in three phases. In the first phase, a curriculum was developed and a participant manual consisting of 15 chapters was written. In the second and third phases, training sessions were delivered to 209 participants and technical assistance was provided for program development at five sites. The project resulted in 10 principles for juvenile justice programs to identify and intervene with drug-involved youths: (1) program planning, development, and implementation should include all potentially affected persons; (2) the program purpose should complement the agency's mission statement; (3) the program should include more than one method of identifying drug-involved youths; (4) a clearly defined rationale and procedure should be established for identifying youths to be included in the program; (5) the program should have written policies and procedures that all staff read and understand; (6) chemical testing and/or drug recognition techniques should be used with sufficient frequency to identify and deter continued drug use; (7) the use of assessments, drug recognition techniques, and chemical testing should be followed by an intervention; (8) interventions should be appropriate for each youth's developmental stage and tailored to individual case plans; (9) program staff should receive adequate training; and (10) continuous program evaluation should be undertaken. 6 references, 1 note, and 2 tables