In our office, near the Lloyd Center in NE Portland, we currently have one project:

"Early Intervention for Minors in Possession of Alcohol/Drugs: A Feasibility Study" ("MAST1"):  This federally funded pilot project is evaluating two brief treatment interventions for youth (ages 13-17) who have received a citation for Minor in Possession (Alcohol) or Less Than an Ounce (Marijuana). Participants are referred directly from the Juvenile Justice Departments in Multnomah and Washington Counties.

Youth are randomly assigned to receive two sessions of either Motivational Enhancement Therapy or a group drug education class. Half of the parents will have the opportunity to complete the online Parenting Wisely course. Participants complete research assessments at baseline and at 3 and 6 months later to help us evaluate the success of the different interventions.

We hope that the results will indicate that this is a promising approach for reducing youth substance abuse and criminal recidivism. This initial "pilot" study is only 2 years, but we plan to utilize the results to develop larger scale programs to provide services to more families in Portland's four-county area in the future.

Chalaina Dietz, a former Research Assistant, conducts an interview during an assessment.

The "Sequencing" and "AIMS" Projects stopped taking new referrals in January 2011. Clients already enrolled in these programs will continue to receive treatment and will complete follow-up research assessments over the next year.