Program Evaluation of Adolescent Intervention Program (AIP): Substance Abuse Education Program for At Risk Adolescents

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Adolescent Intervention Program (AIP), a faith-based drug and alcohol recovery program for teens. This is an alternative to jail program. Nearly 1 in 10 Americans, 12 years or older (20.1 million people), have a substance use disorder (SUD), involving alcohol or illicit drugs (National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, 2019). The average age of first-time alcohol or substance use is 13 years old and nine out of ten addictions start in the adolescent years (National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, 2019). Adolescents with first-time drug and alcohol arrests can be referred to the AIP as an alternative to jail time from the juvenile court system (Grim & Grim, 2019). The W.K. Kellogg’s Step by Step Guide to Evaluation (2017) guided this program evaluation. One early finding was the lack of program data including participant demographics, completion, and recidivism rates. Even though this was a barrier to completing a traditional program evaluation, the Kellogg model provided guidance in the use of the Appreciative Evaluation approach. Kellogg’s Empowerment and Culturally Responsive Evaluation approach also influenced the development of the stakeholder structured interviews. The Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Model provided a framework to identify evidence-based research related to faith-based drug and alcohol recovery programs that guided understanding and the foundation for program recommendations. Recommendations included the development of a facility leadership succession plan, educational tool kits for parents and teens, and the development of a volunteer orientation and training program