Substance Abuse Among Community-Based Group Home Youth: An In-Depth Report

The problem of substance abuse among adolescents has been of concern to practitioners and policy makers for some time. This concern is based, in part, on the number of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 using substances and grows out of knowledge about the negative long- and short-term consequences associated with the use of alcohol and illicit drugs. Within the adolescent population, substance use by the subgroup of youth in the foster care system is of particular significance because this group is known to have many of the risk factors for substance use. Despite the magnitude of the problem and numerous potential negative outcomes, substance use among adolescents in foster care is an understudied area resulting in a number of significant gaps in the current knowledge base. The study was designed to begin to address these gaps by assessing the probability of substance use/dependency in 43 adolescent girls in Foundling’s community-based group living programs, using a valid and reliable instrument, and by examining the extent to which the milieu itself functions as risk factor for substance use.

Findings indicated high rates of substance use. One third of the sample as a whole met the criteria for having a substance use/dependency disorder, with higher rates for the subgroup of girls who were not pregnant and/or mothers (51.4%). Results are presented in Baker, A.J.L., Ashare, C., & Charvat, C. (in press). Substance use and dependency disorders in adolescent girls in group living programs: Prevalence and associations with milieu factors. Residential Treatment for Children and Youth.