Sustained effects of the Communities That Care system on prevention service system transformation.
OBJECTIVE
We examined whether the Communities That Care (CTC) system sustained effects 1.5 years after study funding ended on prevention system constructs expected to be important for community-level reductions in drug use and antisocial behaviors among youths.


METHODS
Data were from a community trial of 24 towns in the United States randomized to either the CTC intervention or control conditions. Participants were 928 community key leaders interviewed at 1 to 4 waves from 2001 to 2009. Intervention activities, including training and technical assistance, were conducted between 2003 and 2008 in the CTC communities.


RESULTS
Leaders from CTC communities reported higher levels of adoption of a science-based approach to prevention and a higher percentage of funding desired for prevention activities in 2009 than did leaders in control communities. CTC communities showed a higher increase over time in community norms against adolescent drug use as well as adoption of a science-based approach compared with control communities.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings indicated that CTC implementation produced enduring transformation of important prevention system constructs in intervention communities, which might, in turn, produce long-term reductions in youth problem behaviors.
Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98115, USA. rhew@u.washington.edu
Isaac C
IC
Rhew
Eric C
EC
Brown
J David
JD
Hawkins
John S
JS
Briney
D000293:Adolescent; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012947:Social Work / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology