Reclaiming Futures, a model program that helps youths involved in the criminal-justice system access addiction treatment and other services, will be expanded to three more communities thanks to a new, $2.3-million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The program centers on a six-step model that includes screening teens for drug and alcohol problems, assessing the severity of use, providing prompt access to a treatment plan coordinated by a service team, and connecting teens with employers, mentors and volunteer service projects.

"The unique approach of Reclaiming Futures -- more treatment, better treatment and beyond treatment -- recognizes the critical relationships between our health and the environments where we live, work and play," said Kristin Schubert, senior program officer at RWJF. "This not only helps the young people the initiative serves overcome the social barriers that stand in the way to better health, it also plays a vital part in helping to fulfill the mission of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to improve the health and health care of all Americans."

Reclaiming Futures currently operates in 23 communities nationally. The federal government also recently awarded $3.6 million to support juvenile courts that use the Reclaiming Futures model.