The Reclaiming Futures program has been awarded $2 million by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to continue their work of addressing substance abuse in teens. This grant will be used to test a new approach of addressing at-risk youth called Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment.
“We are one of a number of grants they’ve recently made to test SBIRT,” said Jim Carlton, the deputy director of Reclaiming Futures in an email. “They chose us along with one other group to test with youth in or at-risk of entering the juvenile justice system.”
Reclaiming Futures is a national program based out of Portland State. It was conceived as a way to address the deficiencies of the juvenile justice system.
“We were particularly focused on the fact that research has shown a large percentage of youth entering the juvenile justice system have substance abuse and/or mental health problems that weren’t being addressed in the juvenile justice system,” Carlton said.
More information about the grant and the Reclaiming Futures program is available at reclaimingfutures.org.