The sustainment of evidence-based adolescent substance abuse treatment in community settings

Excerpt

Numerous interventions for adolescent substance use disorders have been developed, tested, and supported by empirical evidence, yet of the 2 million 12- to 17-year-olds in need of treatment, only about 8 percent receive treatment. To help address this implementation gap, government agencies have offered time-limited discretionary grant funding to help facilitate delivery of evidence-based practices (EBPs). As one example, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) has funded four cohorts of treatment organizations (16 in 2006; 17 in 2007; 15 in 2009; 34 in 2010) to deliver the Adolescent-Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA). However, evidence that such grants lead to longer-term EBP implementation (i.e., sustainment) beyond the initial grant period is limited. Additionally, there is lack of information regarding factors associated with EBP sustainment. …