Communities piloting the Reclaiming Futures anti-drug approach have made good improvements in coordinating juvenile-justice and addiction-treatment programs, according to research from the Urban Institute and the University of Chicago.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded, $21-million Reclaiming Futures project seeks to combat addiction among teens in the criminal-justice system through systems reforms, treatment improvements, and community engagement. Screening teens for drug problems and hooking them up with mentors in the community are major components of the project.

"Early findings indicate that the 10 pilot communities have significantly improved their coordination of juvenile-justice and substance-abuse treatment services," said researcher Jeffrey A. Butts, Ph.D., of the University of Chicago. He said that 12 of 13 indices being measured through the project have improved since 2003, including drug assessments, treatment outcomes, and service accessibility.

Reclaiming Futures project participants include Anchorage, Alaska; Santa Cruz, Calif.; Chicago, Ill.; three counties in eastern Kentucky; Marquette, Mich.; the state of New Hampshire; Rosebud, S.D.; Dayton, Ohio; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle, Wash. The project runs through 2007.