The proposed study aims to test a promising strategy for improving vocational and employment outcomes for adolescents with identified substance abuse problems or at high risk for such. These youths are at very high risk for poor long-term outcomes from both personal and societal perspectives. The 6- month employment program, Project CRAFT (Community Restitution Apprenticeship-Focused Training), is designed to train and place high-risk youths in employment within the residential building industry. Importantly, CRAFT is operated by the Home Builders Institute, which is the educational arm of the National Association of Home Builders and has formal linkages with virtually all local building associations across the nation. CRAFT participants are connected with local employers throughout the course of training. This initial test of CRAFT uses existing multisystemic therapy (MST, Henggeler et al., 1998) programs in Connecticut as the platform for the evaluation, which has several advantages at this early stage of validation (e.g., reducing """"""""noise,"""""""" providing integrated services, treating substance use). Specifically, 120 15- to 18-year old adolescents presenting serious antisocial behavior and with identified substance abuse problems or at high risk for such will be randomized to CRAFT versus education as usual (EAU) conditions. In both cases, the therapists, per standard MST protocols, will be supporting the efforts of the vocational instructor (in the CRAFT condition) or school personnel (in the EAU condition) at enhancing youth school and vocational performance. Follow-up will be conducted through 2 years post program completion. This study has three primary aims.
Aim 1 : To evaluate the capacity of CRAFT to improve participant employment and earnings. CRAFT participants are hypothesized to have considerably higher rates of employment (measured by days employed) at a higher hourly wage than their EAU counterparts at posttreatment and follow-up.
Aim 2 : To examine the extent to which CRAFT is associated with decreases in substance use and increases in psychosocial functioning. Participants in both treatment conditions are expected to demonstrate gains in psychosocial functioning during treatment. Because participation in employment is expected to facilitate further improvement in psychosocial outcomes, CRAFT participants are hypothesized to experience additional gains following treatment while EAU participants are hypothesized to only maintain treatment gains.
Aim 3 : To evaluate possible moderators (e.g., criminal history, symptomatology) of CRAFT effects. For participants in the CRAFT condition, dosage effects will also be examined. ? ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DA019708-02
Application #
7294279
Study Section
Human Development Research Subcommittee (NIDA)
Program Officer
Liberman, Akiva M
Project Start
2006-09-30
Project End
2011-05-31
Budget Start
2007-06-01
Budget End
2008-05-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$606,126
Indirect Cost
Name
Medical University of South Carolina
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
183710748
City
Charleston
State
SC
Country
United States
Zip Code
29425
Schaeffer, Cindy M; Henggeler, Scott W; Ford, Julian D et al. (2014) RCT of a promising vocational/employment program for high-risk juvenile offenders. J Subst Abuse Treat 46:134-43
Henggeler, Scott W; Sheidow, Ashli J (2012) Empirically supported family-based treatments for conduct disorder and delinquency in adolescents. J Marital Fam Ther 38:30-58
Tuerk, Elena Hontoria; McCart, Michael R; Henggeler, Scott W (2012) Collaboration in family therapy. J Clin Psychol 68:168-78
Henggeler, Scott W (2011) Efficacy studies to large-scale transport: the development and validation of multisystemic therapy programs. Annu Rev Clin Psychol 7:351-81