8 Great Resources for Improving Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

Want help improving adolescent substance abuse treatment in your community? We've published a lot of excellent resources since we launched this blog a year ago. 
(Yes, we're still celebrating this blog's birthday. Missed our earlier celebration? Check out the list of our top 10 most popular stories on juvenile justice and adolescent substance abuse.)
Here's eight more great posts from our archives, aimed at helping you with teen treatment:

#1. Across the U.S., many teens don't get the substance abuse treatment they need. SAMHSA can tell you how big the teen treatment gap is in your area.
#2. Work in the juvenile justice system? This fantastic resource guide on evidence-based approaches to adolescent substance abuse is just for you. (It's from Physicians and Lawyers for National Drug Policy. And hard copies are free.)
#3. You can use Washington State's plan to improve adolescent substance abuse treatment as a model, if your state doesn't have one of its own.
#4. It's not easy to change how the juvenile justice system and adolescent treatment agencies address the kids they have in common. Learn from the 10 communities who successfully piloted the Reclaiming Futures model, with strong results.
#5. Work in adolescent treatment? Trying to implement evidence-based practices? SAMHSA rides to the rescue, with Implementing Change in Substance Abuse Treatment Programs. 
#6. Just because that treatment model you're trying to introduce has research behind it doesn't mean change will be easy. So, learn from the experts at the Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC). Their publication, The Change Book, gives you a concise road map to implementing evidence-based practices -- in adolescent substance abuse treatment or in the juvenile justice system.
#7. Every adolescent substance abuse treatment agency in your jurisdiction wants to reduce costs, improve services, and increase revenue. Here's how they can do it: use this provider toolkit from the Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx). It's got over 60 tested, promising practices for substance abuse treatment agencies. The end result? More teens get treatment, and they get better treatment.
#8. In August, NIATx began offering 18 months of free technical assistance to substance abuse treatment providers. It's not too late to sign up for this unprecedented offer. NIATx offers many other great resources, too, such as toolkits, FAQs and a support forum.
BONUS: This item isn't actually focused on treatment, but it's worth repeating anyway. Teens can now "Txt 4 Help" if they're on the run or in crisis.
 UPDATE: Check out these great resources for juvenile justice and adolescent treatment from 2010.
Related Posts:

• Handy Reference List for Evidence-Based Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Models
• For Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Providers: 5 T.A. "Packages" from CSAT

(Image from Jacob Whittaker.)