RCT of a promising vocational/employment program for high-risk juvenile offenders

Abstract

Juvenile offenders with substance use problems are at high risk for deleterious long-term outcomes. This study evaluated the capacity of a promising vocational and employment training program in the building sector (i.e., Community Restitution Apprenticeship-Focused Training, CRAFT) to mitigate such outcomes through enhanced employment and education. Participants were 97 high-risk juvenile offenders (mean age = 15.8. years) randomized to CRAFT versus education as usual (EAU) intervention conditions. Multi-method procedures measured employment, education, substance use, mental health, and criminal outcomes through a 30-month post-baseline follow-up. CRAFT was significantly more effective than EAU at increasing rates of youth employment and GED attendance. Intervention effects were not observed, however, for months employed, hours worked, or hourly wage. Measures of youth substance use, mental health symptoms, and criminal activity showed no favorable or iatrogenic effects. The potential of CRAFT was modestly supported, and suggestions were made for future research. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Vocational training employment substance abuse Juvenile offenders

Index Keywords

Employment adult female human male Humans adolescent Article Vocational education Vocational training controlled study major clinical study program evaluation community randomized controlled trial outcome assessment Program development mental health high risk population working time substance abuse Substance-Related Disorders Follow-Up Studies intermethod comparison priority journal criminal behavior community restitution apprenticeship focused training juvenile delinquency Juvenile offenders

Author Affiliations

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, College of Medicine, Charleston, SC, United States

Department of Psychiatry, UConn Health, Farmington, CT, United States

Funding & Acknowledgements

National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIDA

Grant: R01DA019708

This research was supported by grant DA019708 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded to the second author. The project would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of Mr. John Hattery, who served as Director for Workforce Training and Employment at the Home Builders Institute, National Association of Home Builders, during the intervention stage of the study. The authors sincerely thank the organizational leadership and participating practitioners at Community Health Resources, Community Solutions, Inc., Hartford Behavioral Health, the North American Family Institute, the Village for Families and Children, and Wheeler Clinic. We also thank members of the research team, including Tuhina Joseph, Joan Levine, and Steven Shapiro.

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RCT of a promising vocational/employment program for high-risk juvenile offenders

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