Given a five-year evaluation plan which contrasts intervention with comparison groups yearly, the aim of the following primary prevention program will be to serve youths at risk for involvement with alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATODs) or violence. This vocationally-oriented prevention research initiative will serve African American (AA) adolescent males, ages 16-20, who attend an in-house suspension program for ATOD-related, violent, and disruptive behavior in a free-standing after school setting. The program will seek to develop a replicable model to reduce involvement with ATOD and violence using standardized curicula, vocational mentoring, and vocational peer support. To fulfill this aim, participants will include the following AA male adolescents: youths who have current, historical, or pending violations (e.g., school infractions or legal charges), youths originating from economically disadvantaged or female headed households, and youths in danger of facing academic probation or becoming dropouts. The program will employ a variety of elements to increase social competence, male role definition, economic independence, and social resistance to ATODs and violence. Service components will include mentoring, peer-to-peer reinforcement, recreation, case management, vocational development, training in manhood development, and ATOD and violence prevention training. The overarching goal of the program will be to fadlitate the youths' compliance with ATOD and violence-free lifestyles. Providing access to these service components will help to empower the youths with a repertoire of skills that are incompatible with ATOD and violence involvement. Consequently, the BRAVE (Building Resiliency and Vocational Excellence) African American Men's Program will operate on this premise: Youths who attach themselves to positive, successful community role models, cultivate appropriate adaptive skills for community settings, internalize social nomms which equate manhood with personal responsibility, and develop potentially rewarding vocational careers will be less likely to become involved with alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs and engage in violence.
