Karol L. Kumpfer, Ph.D., is the Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP). Connie M. Tait, Ph.D., is an assistant research professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Education at the University of Utah.

Points of view or opinions expressed in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of OJJDP or the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime.

Share With Your Colleagues Unless otherwise noted, OJJDP publications are not copyright protected. We encourage you to reproduce this document, share it with your colleagues, and reprint it in your newsletter or journal. However, if you reprint, please cite OJJDP and the authors of this Bulletin. We are also interested in your feedback, such as how you received a copy, how you intend to use the information, and how OJJDP materials meet your individual or agency needs. Please direct your comments and questions to: Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse Publication Reprint/Feedback P.O. Box 6000 Rockville, MD 20849-6000 800-638-8736 301-519-5212 (fax) E-Mail: askncjrs@ncjrs.org

Discover JUVJUST and access the latest juvenile justice information from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the field, including announcements of newly released publications, grants and funding opportunities, and upcoming conferences. Announcements are posted by OJJDP several times a week. JUVJUST is a free service that is available to anyone with Internet e-mail. Subscribe now by completing the following steps: Send an e-mail message to listproc@ncjrs.org. Leave the subject line blank. Type subscribe juvjust and your name in the body of the message.

From the Administrator Often juvenile crime and violence are rooted in an array of interrelated problems, such as child maltreatment and neglect, drug and alcohol abuse, and youth conflict, that may originate within the family. As part of its mission to prevent juvenile delinquency and protect children, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is committed to working to enhance the positive influence of families through proven family-strengthening programs. This Bulletin, one of OJJDP's Family Strengthening Series, features the Strengthening Families Program. The program reflects research that indicates that the most effective interventions build parent, child, and family skills. Originally designed as a drug abuse prevention program to help drug abusing parents and their children, the Strengthening Families Program has developed into a family-change program that has served the needs of culturally and geographically diverse families and their children across the Nation. Several examples of such varied adaptations of the program's strategy are described in these pages. Suggestions for implementing the program in communities are also provided, as are additional resources that should prove useful. When we strengthen the family, we strengthen the child—and the future of our Nation. John J. Wilson Acting Administrator