Wheeler Clinic EAP

Prevention - Model Programs

SAMHSA Model Programs are well-implemented and well-evaluated programs, that have been reviewed by the National Registry of Effective Programs (NREP) according to rigorous standards of research. Developers, whose programs have the capacity to become Model Programs, have coordinated and agreed with SAMHSA to provide quality materials, training, and technical assistance for nationwide implementation. Model Programs score at least 4.0 on a 5-point scale on Integrity and Utility, based on the NREP review process.

Science-Based Programs
Programs which have been reviewed by experts in the field according to accepted standards of empirical research. Science-based programs are conceptually sound and internally consistent, have sound research methodology, and can prove that effects are clearly linked to the program itself and not to extraneous events. Results from science-based programs may be positive, neutral, or negative.

Effective Programs
Programs which are well-implemented, well-evaluated, and produce consistently positive patterns of results (across domains and/or replications). Developers of Effective Programs have yet to agree to work with SAMHSA/CSAP to support broad-based dissemination of their program.

Model Programs
Well-implemented, well-evaluated programs whose developers have agreed to participate in SAMHSA/CSAP's dissemination efforts and to provide training and technical assistance to practitioners who wish to adopt/adapt their programs. Ensuring that programs are implemented with reasonable fidelity maximizes the probability for repeated effectiveness.

Risk Factors
All young people are exposed to risk factors, which can place them at greater than average risk for substance use. Risks vary considerably according to an individual's age, psychosocial development, ethnic/cultural identity, and environment. However, the impact of any single risk factor may change over time with the development of the child or changes in his or her environment.

Protective Factors
Converse to risk factors, protective factors can increase a child's resilience to substance abuse, since they act as buffers to initiating or continuing substance use. The literature on protective factors and resilience is more diffuse than that for risk factors, and there is less clarity about which factors are most important in the prevention of substance abuse. Nevertheless, a growing consensus exists that in the major domains of youth development, certain protective factors are critically important.

Domains
SAMHSA/CSAP's conceptual framework of substance abuse prevention consists of six life domains: