Press Release
Phoenix House Adolescent Treatment Facility Named “Model Program” by Dept. of Justice
LOS ANGELES, CA, May 11, 2005 – The Phoenix Academy of Los Angeles, one of eleven residential substance abuse treatment high schools operated by Phoenix House nationwide, has been deemed a “model program” by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and will appear in its online Model Program Guide and Database.
Phoenix House applied for the designation in 2004 after a study in a leading scientific journal found that adolescents treated at the Academy demonstrated substantial reductions in drug use and unlawful behavior and an improvement in psychological status – and that the Phoenix Academy outperformed other juvenile programs in achieving these objectives.
The program was rated as “effective” by OJJDP and is listed online in the OJJDP Model Programs Guide.
The study tracked 175 youths ages 13 to 17 who received treatment at the Phoenix Academy of Los Angeles after being placed on probation by juvenile justice authorities. The treated group was compared with 274 adolescent probationers with similar profiles, including drug use, criminal activity and other factors, in other residential programs. The study was completed by researchers at the RAND Corporation and appeared in the September 2004 issue of the journal, Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.
The adolescents in the study were followed for one year, with researchers collecting periodic information about their drug use, psychological health and criminal behavior. Improvement among the treated adolescents began immediately and continued for at least twelve months.
“Phoenix House is grateful to the Department of Justice for recognizing the work being done at our Phoenix Academy in Los Angeles, and by extension our other Academies across the U.S,” said Mitchell S. Rosenthal, M.D., president of Phoenix House. “This designation of the Phoenix Academy as an effective model for adolescent treatment provides more proof that adolescent treatment can be successful and that Phoenix House has a positive, lasting impact on teens in the juvenile justice system.”
The Phoenix Academy of Los Angeles is one of eleven Phoenix Academies operated by Phoenix House nationwide. Other programs are located in: Santa Ana and San Diego, CA; Augusta, ME; Springfield, MA; Dublin, NH; Long Island and Westchester, NY; Pascoag, RI; Austin and Dallas, TX.
Phoenix House is the nation’s largest nonprofit provider of substance abuse treatment and prevention services, operating more than 100 programs in nine states. Since 1967, Phoenix House has treated more than 100,000 substance abusers – currently caring for a population of more than 6,000 at residential centers for adults, residential Phoenix Academies combining long-term treatment and schooling for adolescents, outpatient, after school, and day programs.
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Justin Bernbach
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