As the projects described in this document ended, a clear need for a continuing emphasis on intervening with alcohol- and drug-involved youth was recognized. Participants in the training and technical assistance activities indicated they needed a broader base of skills and knowledge to move from initially identifying substance-abusing youth to intervening more effectively with them. Recognizing the validity of this request, OJJDP and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment³ (CSAT) funded a subsequent project conducted by APPA.

The juvenile justice system must take primary responsibility for delinquent and substance-abusing youth who enter the system. Interventions should be consistent with the principles of OJJDP's Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Violent, and Chronic Juvenile Offenders (1993), including:

• Family strengthening interventions.
  
• Support and involvement of core social institutions.
  
• Prevention strategies.
  
• Immediate and effective intervention.
  
• Special emphasis on identifying and intervening with youth who pose the greatest risk.

Systems development training and technical assistance

Programs providing services to youth must be coordinated with other services provided by local communities. To ensure a holistic intervention approach, juvenile probation and parole/aftercare programs must interact with other components of the juvenile justice system (e.g., law enforcement, courts), treatment agencies, healthcare services, and child welfare and education programs. Several local jurisdictions received targeted training and technical assistance to help them achieve an integrated service delivery approach for delinquent and substance-abusing youth. The training and technical assistance emphasized the balanced and restorative approach to juvenile justice services, the need to plan for a comprehensive continuum of services across systems, and effective communication, cooperation, and collaboration in the delivery of services.

Skills development training

Many communities have limited resources for meeting the needs of delinquent and substance-abusing youth. Therefore, this project developed a training curriculum focusing on skills needed by juvenile justice personnel to work with alcohol- and drug-involved youth. Assessment methods, counseling techniques, relapse prevention, family interventions, effective interagency referrals and relationships, and prevention programming are among the critical elements addressed in the curriculum.

The project developed materials for training participants and instructors. A program to train trainers expands the efforts of the project by providing training personnel with the tools and methods to replicate these training programs in local jurisdictions.

This project represents an ongoing commitment of OJJDP, CSAT, and APPA to effective strategies that assist juvenile justice agencies and staffs to intervene in juvenile substance abuse and delinquency. Identifying alcohol- and drug-involved youth is an essential first step. Once identified, juvenile probation and parole/aftercare agencies and staffs have the critical responsibility of providing or facilitating the delivery of services needed to help these youth toward recovery.

³ The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment is a branch of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Drug Identification and Testing in the Juvenile Justice System

May 1998