Bleak and hopeless no more - Engagement of reluctant substance-abusing runaway youth and their families

Runaway/homeless shelters document high levels of substance abuse among run away youth, at least double that of school youth. These youth present a con stellation of problems and research suggests that this population may be un ique in the range and intensity of associated problems. Most studies to dat e have collected self-report data on these youth; virtually no research has examined treatment effectiveness with the population. Given the void of tr eatment outcome research with these youths, there is need for identifying p otent interventions. Given that issues of engagement and retention must ass ume prominence in the development of new treatments, this article presents a family-based treatment engagement strategy successfully employed with a s ample of substance-abusing youth staying in a southwestern shelter. Youth a nd primary caretakers are engaged separately by the therapist utilizing mot ivating factors appropriate to context of the families' lives and to the de velopmental position of the client. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All righ ts reserved.