Phoenix House/Massachusetts Department of Youth Services Continuing Care for DYS Youth reentering the Community.

Phoenix House and the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS) will partner to deliver outpatient substance abuse treatment and continuing care for DYS youth between the ages of 13 and 18. The target population for the proposed Phoenix House/DYS project in Hampden County consists of DYS-committed youth reentering their home communities following confinement in residential DYS facilities. The project will enhance the adolescent abuse treatment system by delivering the evidence-based A-CRA/ACC model to 144 DYS youth and their families or guardians over 36 months. The prevalence of alcohol and other drug use by youth in DYS custody is significantly higher than in the general youth population of Massachusetts, and DYS regards substance use as a major risk factor for reoffending. The A-CRA/ACC service model has attributes that will help to prevent or reduce substance use and recidivism among the target population: it involves parents or guardians in treatment and continuing care, and the delivery model is mobile ' services are provided in the participants' homes or neighborhoods. In order to evaluate individual outcomes and program effectiveness, Phoenix House will perform the standardized GAIN follow-up assessment. The GAIN is a short monitoring instrument designed to measure changes from the baseline assessment. Satisfaction of participants and families with the project will be measured through satisfaction surveys, to be developed specifically for the program. NCA/NCF