Reclaiming Futures Expands with $2.3 Million Grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Back in March, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) offered $3.6 million for three new Reclaiming Futures sites. Today, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) approved an additional $2.3 million to support those three new Reclaiming Futures sites and provide technical assistance training to the existing 23 sites around the country.

The Reclaiming Futures initiative brings together judges, probation officers, treatment providers, families and community members to improve drug and alcohol treatment for young people in trouble with the law. During a five-year pilot phase, 10 communities created and tested a new six-step model that screens teens for drug and alcohol problems, assesses the severity of substance use, provides prompt access to a treatment plan coordinated by a service team, and connects teens with employers, mentors and volunteer service projects. 
 
An independent evaluation in 2006 by the Urban Institute and the University of Chicago's Chapin Hall Center for Children found that the Reclaiming Futures model works. Reclaiming Futures pilot communities reported significant improvements in juvenile justice and drug and alcohol treatment and positive changes in the way juvenile justice and substance abuse agencies communicate and cooperate.