Explains the Strengthening Families Program (SFP) and presents adaptations of the program’s strategies across the United States. Developed by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, this family-change program was designed to needs of culturally and geographically diverse families and their children, with the goal of reducing environmental risk factors and improving protective factors so as to increase personal resiliency and minimize susceptibility to drug use in high-risk youth. The bulletin covers: background on SFP and its theoretical underpinnings; identification of appropriate target populations; an overview of the program curriculum and materials; outlines of both parent skills training sessions and children’s skills training sessions; a description of the implementation and training manual for use by SFP facilitators; a summary of results from 12 evaluations of SFP implementations by independent investigators; detailed findings of replications of the program by communities agencies serving high-risk families in Selma, Alabama, Denver, Colorado, and Detroit, Michigan, as well as in Iowa, Hawaii, and Utah; and practical guidance about program implementation, including suggestions for recruiting and retaining high-risk families, selecting program site, location, and size, and training facilitators. SFP has yielded positive outcomes, including decreased use of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs and improved family relations.
