This proposed research examines the application of a multifaceted after-school approach, within an alternative learning setting, designed to prevent both the initiation and escalation of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use (ATOD), risky sexual behaviors, and violence among high-risk inner-city, African- American youth who have been expelled from traditional public schools because of violence or other serious rule infractions. Evolving from our earlier preventive interventions implemented in both clinic and school settings in Baltimore City, the intervention. The Village Model of Care involves structured group mentoring, parental empowerment and support services, and community outreach services. The prevention program will be implemented with students and their primary caregiver(s) over a seven-month period during the school year, from November through May, and will involve four days per week of after-school programming, together with scheduled gatherings of students with their families and community volunteers, organized field trips, and community participation in planning and activities. Over the four-year implementation phase, 280 youth will be enrolled in the study, including 112 boys and 28 girls who will participate in the after-school program, and an additional 112 boys and 28 girls who will serve as comparison participants for program evaluation purposes. Using a counterbalanced design, one of two participating alternative learning schools will be randomly selected to receive the experimental intervention in the first project year and to serve as a no-intervention control school in the second year, while the second school will serve as a control school the first year and will receive the experimental intervention in the second year. This selection procedure will be repeated in the third and fourth years of the project. Baseline measures, including information regarding students' risk and protective factors, will be administered prior to program implementation and outcome measures will be administered at baseline, post-intervention and nine-months following the conclusion of intervention. A process evaluation will examine the fidelity to the planning process, the integrity of the intervention and the relationship between degree of youth/family participation and outcome. Outcome assessment will focus not only on the effectiveness of the Village Model of Care in comparison to no after-school care, but also on the extent to which risk and protective factors differentially predict success in the Village Model of Care program. To facilitate replication elsewhere, manuals will be developed, with the input of school officials and other community members, documenting both training and implementation procedures. Results of the project will be disseminated in written reports, scientific articles, and presentations. ? ? ?
| Carswell, Steven B; Hanlon, Thomas E; O'Grady, Kevin E et al. (2009) A Preventive Intervention Program for Urban African American Youth Attending an Alternative Education Program: Background, Implementation, and Feasibility. Educ Treat Children 32:445-469 |
