NCJ Number
145055
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 22 Issue: 3 Dated: (June 1993) Pages: 283-295
Date Published
1993
Length
13 pages
Annotation
The literature on adolescent drug abuse consistently points to a number of correlates: poor and inconsistent family management, poverty and social deprivation, school failure, peer influence, community detachment, cognitive deficits, and sensation seeking.
Abstract
Despite growing recognition of their overlapping concerns, vocational training programs, such as Job Corps, and drug treatment programs are, for the most part, conducted independently. The New York Division of Substance Abuse Services has implemented a 4-year demonstration project -- Gateway Job Corps (GJC) -- to provide basic educational and vocational skills training, as well as residential and other support services, to approximately 24 youths, aged 16-21, who stay in the program for an average of 7 months. About half of GJC's enrolles have been identified as substance abusers. Initial retention rates have met or exceeded those for youngsters enrolled in general Job Corps or substance abuse treatment programs, although it is too early to assess GJC's effectiveness in either area. Some of the problem faced by GJC administrators as a result of multiservice cooperation include issues of confidentiality, the need for a clearer treatment policy and philosophy, and the difficulty in establishing an effective treatment philosophy for alcohol as well as other drug abuse. 3 tables and 30 references