This unsolicited proposal is submitted under NIDA's Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award (21): PA NUMBER: PA-03-107. The purpose of this project entitled: Substance Use and HIV Prevention (SUHIP) is to develop and pilot test a new intervention that results from the adaptation of two evidence-based pre-existing culturally and gender sensitive interventions shown to reverse negative trajectories toward substance use and HIV risk behaviors among at-risk adolescents (i.e., Reconnecting Youth [RY] and Street Smart [SS]). The target population is an extremely high-risk group of Hispanic and African American male and female juvenile offenders who, while detained in secure 24-hour residential youth correctional facilities, attend school at on-site alternative high school settings. This exploratory proposal will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and tolerability of delivering the resultant intervention to a group of youth attending unique alternative schools in correctional settings. The project is novel in that this population is an understudied group. As part of this project, an integrated school-based curriculum will be provided.
