Enhancing Juvenile Drug Court Outcomes With Evidence-Based Practices

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Juvenile drug courts were developed in response to a perceived need to intervene more effectively with youth with substance abuse problems. Close collaboration between the court and substance abuse treatment provider is a defining component of the drug court model and is critical to helping youth achieve positive outcomes. Despite the proliferation of juvenile drug courts in recent years, however, evaluation of their capacity to reduce offender substance use and criminal activity has lagged. Moreover, the Institute of Medicine (IOM, 1998) and leading experts (McLellan, Carise, & Kleber, 2003) have presented a bleak picture of the nation's capacity to meet the treatment needs of substance abusing individuals. Although community-based programs provide the backbone of substance abuse treatment in the nation, their capabilities have not kept up with major scientific advances in the development and validation of evidence-based substance abuse interventions. Building on our research findings and experience regarding juvenile drug court outcomes as well as the transport of evidence-based practices to community treatment settings, the purpose of this study is to develop and test a relatively flexible and low cost strategy for enhancing the outcomes of juvenile drug courts by integrating components of evidence-based treatments into existing substance abuse services. Specifically, this project aims to: Aim 1: Adapt existing intervention and training protocols from evidence-based practices (i.e., Contingency Management for adolescent substance abuse; family engagement strategies from evidence-based treatments of juvenile offenders) for integration into juvenile drug court sites. Aim 2: Conduct a study to examine youth (e.g., substance use and criminal behavior) and system level (e.g., intervention adherence, feasibility, retention and completion rates, consumer satisfaction, cost estimates) effects of implementing the intervention protocols in juvenile drug courts. Aim 3: Revise the intervention and training protocols in preparation for a Stage II study if findings are supportive.

Official Title
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Enhancing Juvenile Drug Court Outcomes With Evidence-Based Practices

Conditions
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Adolescent Substance Use

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Contingency Management-Family Engagement (CM-FAM)
* Other: Usual Services (US)


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Juvenile Drug Court-involved youth Fluency in English Exclusion Criteria: None

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 12 Years
Maximum Age: 17 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: CM-FAM<br> | Behavioral: Contingency Management-Family Engagement (CM-FAM)<br>* Evidence-based outpatient intervention for adolescent substance use<br>|
| Active Comparator: US<br> | Other: Usual Services (US)<br>* Typical community-based substance abuse treatment services<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Substance Use |  | Quarterly for up to 1 year post-baseline | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Delinquency |  | Quarterly for up to 1 year post-baseline | 
| Intervention Fidelity |  | Monthly for up to 1 year post-baseline | 
| Cost Estimates |  | Annually for 4 years | 
| Consumer Satisfaction |  | Bi-annually for 4 years | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Substance Use, Delinquency, Juvenile Drug Court, Contingency Management, Family Engagement