ADOLESCENTS AND PARENTS OVERCOMING YOUTH OFFENSES (APOYO)

Site Investigator/Co-Investigator: Dr. Stacy R. Ryan-Pettes

Principal Investigator: Dr. Phillippe B. Cunningham and Dr. David Ledgerwood

Co-Investigators: Dr. Michael R. McCart, Dr. Sharon L. Foster, Dr. Debra M. Kawahara, Dr. Jeff Randall

Sponsor: National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)

Grant Title: Behavioral Incentives to Increase Caregiver Engagement in Juvenile Specialty Court

Juvenile Drug Courts have proliferated despite mixed evidence of their effectiveness. Reviews and meta-analyses have reported only modest effect sizes and slight reductions in recidivism among program participants. One primary factor that may account for the variability in effect sizes in drug court outcomes is the lack of parental involvement (i.e., caregiver participation). Data indicate that family involvement in juvenile drug court improves adolescent drug treatment attendance, increases submission of negative drug screens, and leads to fewer judicial sanctions. However, juvenile offenders enrolled in JDC often attend court by themselves, and when family members do attend their responses are often rated as fair or poor. The goal of this study is to evaluate whether caregivers receiving incentives for participation in juvenile drug court and adolescent drug treatment show greater attendance to adolescent court and drug treatment relative to caregivers not receiving incentives. The current study is a multi-site study, using contingency management to reinforce caregiver engagement in juvenile drug court and adolescent drug treatment. Participants include adolescents who are mandated to attend drug treatment by probation and their parents. Participants are randomly assigned to either the contingency management group, which uses a system of prizes to incentivize parents to be involved in their child’s court and treatment process, or the treatment as usual group, which is treatment normally provided by the juvenile drug court.