National Cross-Site Evaluation of HIV and Substance Abuse Prevention Programs

EMT and ICF International were funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention to conduct the national evaluation for the Minority Substance Abuse and HIV Prevention Program. This national cross-site evaluation was a four-year study examining selected high risk youth and adult initiatives that were funded in 2001 and 2002. EMT and ICF International collaborated in evaluating 85 different HIV prevention programs. The evaluation design linked a thorough and relevant process evaluation to an outcome study. The process study was designed to provide focused information relevant to assessing the effectiveness of intervention strategies and the impacts of program implementation factors. This study also provided program-level measures of service type, intensity and duration for statistical analysis along with identification of contextual factors important to interpreting study findings. The outcome component of the evaluation study was designed to determine how the programs reduced the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs and sexual risk behaviors of youth and adult participants as compared to similar youth and adults who received no prevention services. The outcome analysis contributed to prevention policy and program design by identifying differences in effectiveness between program strategies and service mixes, by testing the relation between prevention dosage and outcomes, and by specifying the role of risk and resiliency factors in producing positive ATOD (alcohol, tobacco and other drug) and sexual risk behavior outcomes.

For additional information, please contact EMT at (916) 983-6680 or email us at info@emt.org.