Geographic differences in substance use screening for justice-involved youth

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Justice-involved youth report high rates of substance use. Community Supervision (CS)agencies are uniquely positioned to impact public health through substance use identification and early intervention. Geographic location (i.e., living in an urban versus rural area)is an understudied factor that can be associated with differences in service and resource availability. A secondary analysis of a nationally representative sample of CS agencies assessed agency and youth characteristics, as well as substance use screening in urban and rural CS agencies. Respondents representing rural agencies reported higher rates of substance use, yet were less likely to report using screeners focused on substance use. Respondents representing urban CS agencies reported a wider variety of screening instruments and were more likely to test for drug use during screening. Differences in the screening process can reflect adaptive and culturally responsive approaches to addressing substance use as well as unique barriers to service provision. System-wide improvement is contingent upon implementation strategies that identify and acknowledge geographic differences to more adequately address the common and unique needs of the justice-involved youth they serve.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)40-46
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Substance Abuse Treatment
Volume102
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Inc.

Keywords

  • Geographic difference
  • Juvenile justice
  • Rural
  • Screening
  • Substance use
  • Urban

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Psychiatric Mental Health
  • Medicine (miscellaneous)
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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