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Creating Lasting Family Connections (CLFC) is a comprehensive family strengthening and substance abuse and violence prevention curriculum designed to help youths and families in high-risk environments become strong, healthy, and supportive. CLFC serves African-American, white, Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Hispanic youths ages 9 to 17 and their families living in rural, suburban, or urban settings. Its curriculum is designed for use in a community system (churches, schools, recreation centers, court-referred settings) that provides significant contact with parents and youths, has existing social outreach programs, and is linked with other human service providers.
Because youth programs have a greater chance of being effective with community support, the program begins with community and school mobilization. Next comes the parent and youth training component, consisting of five or six weekly sessions. Parent trainings are designed to increase parent resiliency by improving knowledge of ATOD (alcohol, tobacco, and other drug) abuse, family management skills, communication skills, family role modeling of alcohol use, youth involvement in community activities, and the use of community services as needed. Youth trainings are similarly designed to increase resiliency through teaching communication and refusal skills and encouraging bonding with family. CLFC’s final component involves early intervention and case management services, to provide a support system for the families in the program. Case management services are given for 6 months following the parent and youth trainings.
CLFC was evaluated rigorously, using a true experimental design in which youths were randomly assigned to either the program or a comparison group. There were no significant differences between the two groups. The evaluation used three repeated measures over 1 year to allow the measurement of both short-term and sustained gains. During the first wave, data was collected on 143 parents and 183 youths. Seven months later, data was collected on 114 parents and 149 youths. At the 1-year follow-up, data was collected on 104 parents and 131 youths. The evaluation used multivariate analysis methods to uncover direct and conditional relationships between the program and outcomes.
The evaluation found 1) increases in knowledge and healthy beliefs about ATOD by parents, 2) increased youth involvement in setting and following family ATOD rules, 3) increased use of needed community services by families, 4) increased bonding between children and parents, 5) increased level of (honest and deep) communication, 6) increased use of community services by youths, 7) delayed onset of ATOD use by youth, and 8) reduced ATOD use by youth.
Johnson, Knowlton, Michael Berbaum, Denise D. Bryant, and Gregory Bucholtz. 1995. Evaluation of Creating Lasting Connections: A Program to Prevent Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Among High-Risk Youth: Final Evaluation Report. Urban Research Institute, Inc.
Johnson, Knowlton, Ted N. Strader, Michael Berbaum, Denise D. Bryant, Gregory Bucholtz, David A. Collins, and Tim D. Noe. 1996. “Reducing Alcohol and Other Drug Use by Strengthening Community, Family, and Youth Resiliency: An Evaluation of the Creating Lasting Connections Program.” Journal of Adolescent Research 11(1):36–67.
———. 1998. “Preventing and Reducing Alcohol and Other Drug Use Among High-Risk Youths by Increasing Family Resilience.” Social Work 43(4):297–308.
Strader, Ted N., David A. Collins, and Tim D. Noe. 2000. Building Healthy Individuals, Families, and Communities: Creating Lasting Connections. New York, N.Y.: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Strader, Ted N., David A. Collins, Tim D. Noe, and Knowlton Johnson. 1997. “Mobilizing Church Communities for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Prevention Through the Use of Volunteer Church Advocate Teams.” Journal of Volunteer Administration 15(2):16–29.
Ted N. Strader
COPES, Inc.
845 Barret Avenue
Louisville, KY 40204
Phone: (502) 583-6820
Fax: (502) 583-6832
E-mail: tstrader@sprynet.com
Web site: http://www.copes.org
Ted N. Strader
COPES, Inc.
845 Barret Avenue
Louisville, KY 40204
Phone: (502) 583-6820
Fax: (502) 583-6832
E-mail: tstrader@sprynet.com
Web site: http://www.copes.org
