April 08, 2009
Families Gather to Improve Teen Substance Abuse Treatment
Families Gather to Improve Teen Substance Abuse Treatment
Want to see changes in the adolescent substance abuse treatment system? Families are the key. If change is to occur, then families have to be part of the solution. Yet too often, they’re left out of the conversation.
That might be about to change.
On March 27-28, I had the good fortune to participate in a national dialogue with 65 family members of teens struggling with alcohol and drugs – family members who represented 34 States and Tribes from all over the country.
Here’s what they told us were the big challenges in treatment and recovery for youth with substance use disorders. The top two:
- a lack of education and information to support families; and
- a lack of access to substance abuse treatment for youth and their families.
Other challenges they identified included:
- the lack of an integrated treatment system for youth with co-occurring mental health disorders;
- stigma and misunderstanding of the disease of substance abuse and addiction; and
- quality of treatment for youth.
While at the meeting, family representatives developed plans to immediately begin working on these major issues in their own communities. They’ll meet with their local State/Tribal substance abuse agency heads and other parent organizations.
But they’ll also continue to work on the issue nationally by continuing to work as a group, and getting others to join them in their fight against this disease. Materials from the meeting will be disseminated to the States and Tribes, and a listserv will be created to facilitate communication and keep the group energized and informed as they proceed.
As Sharon Smith, one of organizers of the meeting and the head of Momstell, an advocacy group for parents in Pennsylvania, said, “We’re building a national voice for positive change in youth substance abuse treatment and recovery.”
This is a great moment, seeing families rising up and working together to demand the support that they need. I have hope that they will attract others to a growing national movement, ensuring that the voices of families will be heard.
Want to help teens struggling with alcohol and drugs? Need more information? Contact Sharon Smith. Ideas or thoughts? Please leave a comment below.
Family has a big contribution in all actions of the adolescents or teens, the future of the teens are base upon the family he or she grow up with. the family is the first people who can teach and knows what is the best for the teens specially the parents.
Greg, I am glad to hear of your interest in family involvement. Currently CSAT, OJJDP and Reclaiming Futures are funding juvenile drug court grants that require training for clinicians in involving family in the treatment and drug court process. I recently visited a site in Greene County (Springfield, MO and was quite impressed by the number of family who were present at court with their youth. I think the key to their success is commitment from everyone, starting with the judge to include families. Family participation in my experience has three road blocks: getting buy-in from the drug court team (including treatment providers), transportation, and timing. If you want family involved it is better to do it in the evening when they are available. And if you want to do focus groups - feed them! On another site visit where I asked for family volunteers to come to a focus group the response and attendance was overwhelming. Needless to say, the aforementioned roadblocks were not in play, and there was plenty of food. It was a great evening with a lot of valuable input from families.
In operating a juvenile drug court, we have also begun to realize that the voices of the families are left out of the conversation for what is needed too often. We are investigating the idea of having some smaller focus groups. Is anyone doing this on a regular basis? How does that look? Are families coming on their own? Are there any creative incentives/ideas for how to get families and clients to participate?
Great question, Greg. I'm not personally aware of anyone who's involving parents regularly - (it would be nice to be wrong about this). In my experience, this is a value that even committed folks have trouble pulling off. Congratulations to you for tackling it.
Grace Bauer, of the Campaign for Youth Justice, who's experienced at involving families in juvenile justice issues, posted six tips for involving families on our blog, and I posted a follow-up with more resources. I strongly suggest that you talk with Grace directly by contacting the Campaign.