Substance Abuse Among Youth in Out-of-Home Care

Resources and information about assessing and treating youth in out-of-home care for substance abuse problems, including State and local examples.

AACAP/CWLA Policy Statement on Mental Health and Substance Use Screening and Assessment of Children in Foster Care
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2002)
Encourages foster care programs to screen and assess foster children for mental health and substance abuse problems.

Substance Use and Need for Treatment Among Youths Who Have Been in Foster Care
Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
NSDUH Report, 2005
Statistics on alcohol and drug use by youth in foster care.

State and local examples

Alcohol and Substance Use Among Adolescents in Foster Care in Washington State: Results From the 1998-1999 Adolescent Foster Care Survey (PDF - 335 KB)
Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (2002)
Estimates rates of alcohol and other drug use, abuse and dependence, and need for treatment; describes the risk factors for drug use experienced by adolescents; and compares the risk factors, drug use, abuse, need for treatment and treatment use for adolescents in foster care to adolescents living in their parents' homes.