Prevention Works!

Advances in Knowledge: The HRY DataBank

Since its establishment in 1986, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) has played a critical leadership role in the development of substance abuse prevention theory, programming, and knowledge application. An important part of CSAP’s mission is to generate new knowledge about the impact and effectiveness of prevention efforts.

Recognizing the need for a sustained effort to organize the mass of information originating among CSAP grantees, and to present findings and other pertinent information in a form that would be both useful in assessing program effectiveness and scientifically acceptable, CSAP launched a new initiative, the High Risk Youth (HRY) DataBank, in the fall of 1994.

The HRY DataBank is an evaluation-oriented information system with a comprehensive, unifying framework. It consists of four primary information components:

• Descriptive information (e.g., administrative characteristics including location, number, and types of sites; setting; and targeted population demographics);
• Compilations of specific CSAP demonstration program interventions (prevention strategies);
• Formal characterization of the evaluation methods used; and
• Objective ratings of both strength (direction and magnitude) and credibility of findings.

To date, seven programs have been identified as effective/model programs and have agreed to be part of this dissemination effort. They successfully underwent the HRY screening process, which involves gaining expert consensus on the quality of program implementation, evaluation methodology, and effectiveness.

Although the seven programs differed in terms of participants’ age groups, economic and ethnic backgrounds, and community settings, they all focused on building caring and supportive relationships.

• Across Ages
• SMART Leaders
• Child Development Project
• Dare To Be You
• Creating Lasting Connections
• FAN Club
• Residential Student Assistance Program

Compiling and disseminating the results of HRY program evaluations is viewed as an important step for CSAP, both to promote the effectiveness of substance abuse prevention programming and to disseminate the models and intervention strategies that proved most successful. Data collected by CSAP adds to the growing professional literature, offering a rich body of research on risk factors for substance use and abuse among children, youth, and young adults.

For more information on the HRY DataBank, contact SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information at 1-800-729-6686 or at http://ncadi.samhsa.gov.

To receive a complimentary copy of this PreventionAlert, call SAMSHA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI) @ 1-800-729-6686, TDD 1-800-487-4889 (for the hearing impaired.) PREVENTIONAlert is supported by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and may be copied without permission with appropriate citation. For information about PREVENTIONAlert, please contact CSAP by phone (301) 443-0581 or e-mail gensley@samhsa.gov

Return to Table of Contents for Volume I
Return to Table of Contents for Volume II
Return to Top of Page