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Middle School Programs

Disclaimer: The programs on this page may have a cost associated with them. Additionally, some of these programs may have grant funding available in your state to pay for part, or the entirety, of the program's implementation costs. Please explore your options when considering one the programs on the list below. For other options, explore the Marijuana Use Prevention Additional Resources Page for state agency resources using the link below:

Each registry uses its own, unique review and rating process. View the Registry Programs help page for more information concerning each registry's rating and review practices. Additionally, as you scroll down this list of programs, keep in mind that they are in alphabetical order, continue scrolling down the page to see the full list of programs. For more information and help using this page, please visit the Registry Programs help page.

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Case management in schools (including Communities in Schools)

Case management involves placing a full-time social worker or counselor in a school to help identify at-risk students’ needs and connect students and families with relevant services in and outside of the K–12 system. Three such models have been evaluated and are included in this analysis are (in no particular order) Communities in Schools, City Connects, and Comer School Development Program. In practice, each of these models includes other services (such as extended learning time and educator training), but the program evaluations focus on the impact of the case management component. (Source)

Evidence-Based Registry Ratings:

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle
  • High

Communities That Care

Communities that Care (CTC) is a coalition-based community prevention program that aims to prevent youth problem behaviors including underage drinking, tobacco use, violence, delinquency, school dropout, and substance abuse. CTC works through a community board to assess risk and protective factors among the youth in their community using a population-based survey of young people. The board works to implement tested and effective programs to address the issues and needs that are identified. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle
  • High

Coping Power Program

The Coping Power Program is a preventive intervention for selected at-risk students. The program typically serves students in late elementary school (e.g. 5th and 6th grade) who exhibit aggressive behavior. The program consists of 34 group sessions for children and 16 group sessions for parents delivered over 16 months plus approximately six brief individual sessions per student. The child sessions target risk factors for substance abuse, delinquency, and conduct problems and use cognitive-behavioral techniques to teach self-regulation, conflict resolution, and social skills. The parent component focuses on stress management, communication, and behavior management. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL
  • Tier 2 SOME

Curriculum-Based Support Group (CBSG)

The Curriculum-Based Support Group (CBSG) program is a preventive intervention for youth between the ages of 4 and 17 identified as at-risk for future substance abuse, delinquency, and violence. The program is delivered in confidential small group sessions led by trained facilitators and is designed to help participants resist peer pressure, set and achieve goals, and make healthy choices. In the study included in this analysis, students in grades 2 through 5 participated in 12 weekly sessions. Each session lasted approximately one hour and group size was limited to 12 students. (Source)

Evidence-Based Registry Ratings:

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle
  • High

Support Tier

  • Tier 2 SOME

Resources

Familias Unidas

Familias Unidas is a family-based prevention program for Latino youth and their families. The program involves 8 parent group meetings and 4 home visits. Group sessions are facilitated by two therapists. The sessions focus on positive parenting, family communication, parental monitoring, and adolescent risk (substance use, HIV) behaviors. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Middle
  • High

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Family Check-up (A.K.A. Positive Family Supports)

Positive Family Support/Family Check-Up (formerly Adolescent Transitions Program) is a three-tiered intervention implemented in middle schools. The first level is a universal component that involves the establishment of a family resource center and a six-week prevention curriculum. The second tier is Family Check-Up, an assessment and brief motivational interview component for students identified as at-risk. The third tier is the Family Intervention Menu, which directs parents of substance-using adolescents to treatment options, parenting groups, and family therapy sessions. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Middle

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL
  • Tier 2 SOME
  • Tier 3 FEW

Family Matters

This is a family-focused prevention program consisting of four booklets, describing activities for parents and youth to complete, mailed to participating families. Each booklet covers a different topic. The books are titled "Why Families Matter," "Helping Families Matter to Teens," "Alcohol and Tobacco Rules Are Family Matters," and "Nonfamily Influences That Matter." Two weeks after each booklet is mailed, parents receive a phone call from a health educator to encourage completion of activities. The average family completes the program over the course of several months. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Middle

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Functional Family Therapy for substance-abusing adolescence (FFT-SA)

Functional Family Therapy (FFT) is a structured family-based intervention that uses a multi-step approach to enhance protective factors and reduce risk factors in the family. Functional Family Therapy is a Blueprint program identified by the University of Colorado’s Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Middle
  • High

Support Tier

  • Tier 2 SOME
  • Tier 3 FEW

Guiding Good Choices (formerly Preparing for the Drug Free Years)

Guiding Good Choices (formerly known as Preparing for the Drug-Free Years) is a skills-training program for middle school students and their parents typically implemented outside normal school hours. The five-session drug resistance and education program, implemented one night per week for five weeks, aims to improve parent-child interactions that reduce the risk for substance use initiation. Sessions typically last two hours each and include a mix of group discussions, workbook activities, role plays, and multimedia presentations. Program content includes education about the prevalence of substance use and risk and protective factors associated with use, and the development of strategies in the home to prevent use (Session 1), establishing expectations and guidelines within the home regarding substance use (Session 2), education and opportunities to practice refusal skills (Session 3), managing family conflict and constructively handling disputes between family members (Session 4), and strategies for engaging the adolescent in family activities and ways to create supportive networks among parents (Session 5). Parents are required to attend all five sessions while the adolescent is required to attend Session 3. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Keepin' it Real

Keepin' it REAL is a universal school-based substance use prevention program designed in multicultural settings for middle school students. The curriculum is taught by classroom teachers in 45-minute sessions once a week for ten weeks. Classroom sessions include group discussions, role playing, games, and five videos produced by youth, designed to teach students drug resistance skills. Our review of the program is limited to the curriculum as implemented by the original developers and does not reflect the alternative implementation model used by Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) America. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle
  • High

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

LifeSkills Training (for middle school students)

Life Skills Training (LST) is a school-based classroom intervention to reduce the risks of alcohol, tobacco, drug abuse, and violence by targeting social and psychological factors associated with initiation of risky behaviors. Teachers deliver the program to middle/junior high school students in 24 to 30 sessions over three years. Students in the program are taught general self-management and social skills and skills related to avoiding substance use. (Source)

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Lions Quest Skills for Adolescents

Lions Quest Skills for Adolescence is a school-based life skills education program designed for students in middle school grades. The curriculum's 45-minute sessions are designed to prevent substance use and bullying behaviors while also teaching anger and stress management skills. Although Lions Quest Skills for Adolescence typically consists of 80 or more sessions and may include whole-school components, our review is based on the 40-lesson version evaluated by Eisen et al. (2002). (Source)

Evidence-Based Registry Ratings:

Grade Level

  • Middle

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Marijuana Education Initiative (MEI)

MEI offers resources for parents and educators on the topic of marijuana. They also offer curricula available for purchase for elementary, middle, and high school. MEI online, subscription based courses cover topics like Marijuana Impact Awareness (Elementary, Intermediate, and Advanced), Marijuana Intervention, Marijuana Infraction Response, Athlete Awarness, Marijuana and the Developing Brain, and Marijuana Education - "Out of the Box." 

Evidence-Based Registry Ratings:

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle
  • High

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Mentoring for students: Community-based (Including Big Brothers Big Sisters)

Youth in the juvenile justice system are assigned to a mentor, typically a non-professional volunteer, who meets with the youth approximately once a week. Mentors help youth build social capital by engaging in pro-social relationships. Mentors assist youth in gaining access to community resources necessary for reentry (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous), attend social functions together (e.g., movies or sporting events), and help youth engage in positive decision-making and problem-solving. Mentors typically maintain a minimum one-year commitment to the youth/program. (Source)

Evidence-Based Registry Ratings:

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle
  • High

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT)

Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT) is an integrative, family-based, multiple systems treatment for youth with drug abuse and related behavior problems. The therapy consists of four domains: (1) engage adolescent in treatment, (2) increase parental involvement with youth and improve limit-setting, (3) decrease family-interaction conflict, and (4) collaborate with extra-familial social systems. Youth are generally aged 11 to 16 and have been clinically referred to outpatient treatment. For this meta-analysis, two studies measured the effects of MDFT on delinquency and ten measured the effects on subsequent substance use. All 12 studies included youth who were referred from the juvenile justice system as well as schools, child welfare agencies, health and mental health agencies, and parents. (Source)

Evidence-Based Registry Ratings:

Grade Level

  • Middle
  • High

Multisystemic Therapy (MST) for juveniles with substance use disorder

Multisystemic Therapy—Substance Abuse (MST-SA) is a form of MST that is targeted toward youth who engage in disordered use of drugs and/or alcohol. MST-SA is intended to reduce drug use and abuse, as well as related delinquent or criminal behavior. MST-SA is delivered by therapists in the participants’ home, school, and community. MST-SA includes a specific written plan, intensive family-focused therapy, job training, and inclusion in positive activities (e.g., sports or clubs). This program also includes random drug testing and rewards for positive behavior (e.g., rewarding a clean urinalysis with monetary compensation). The average MST-SA treatment lasts four months, with several therapist-family visits occurring per week. Participants are typically referred to MST-SA from juvenile drug court or as a condition to probation. (Source)

Support Tier

  • Tier 3 FEW

Resources

Positive Action

Positive Action is one example of a school-wide positive behavior program, aimed at improving social and emotional learning and school climate. Positive Action consists of a detailed curriculum of approximately 140 short lessons throughout the school year in K-6th grades and 82 lessons in 7th-8th grades. School climate components of the program reinforce the classroom curriculum and include training and professional development for teachers, resource coordination, and incentives for positive behavior. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Project ALERT

Project ALERT is a middle/junior high school-based program to prevent tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use. With over 11 sessions in the 7th grade and three boosters in the 8th grade, the program teaches students that most people do not use drugs and teaches them to identify and resist the internal and social pressures that encourage substance use. (Source)

Evidence-Based Registry Ratings:

Grade Level

  • Middle
  • High

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Resources

Project Northland

Project Northland is a multilevel, universal intervention designed to prevent substance use among adolescents in middle school. The 6th grade home component targets parent-child communication via homework assignments, group discussions, and the establishment of a community-wide task force. The 7th grade school-based curriculum, which focuses on improving resistance skills and social norms regarding teen alcohol use, includes class discussions, games, and role playing. The 8th grade components include the peer-led Powerlines curriculum, a mock town meeting, and a community action project. Review is limited to the 6th-8th grade implementation model and does not include the Class Action high school component. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Middle
  • High

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Project Star (A.K.A. Midwestern Prevention Project)

Also known as the Midwestern Prevention Project, Project STAR is a multi-component prevention program with the goal of reducing adolescent tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use. The program consists of a 6th- and 7th-grade classroom intervention (18 sessions) supported by parent, community, and mass media components that address multiple influences on substance use. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Middle

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Resources

PROSPER

The PROSPER (PROmoting School-community-university Partnerships to Enhance Resilience) delivery system is a partnership-based prevention model designed to help communities implement effective programs to reduce substance use and problem behaviors in youth. In addition to supporting program delivery, the model includes needs assessments, quality monitoring, sustainability strategies, and evaluation. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Middle

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Resources

Raising Healthy Children

Raising Healthy Children is a long-term school-based prevention program designed to increase students' bonds to school and prevent problem behaviors. The intervention begins in grade 1 and continues through grade 7. Teachers in those grades attend workshops in classroom management, cooperative learning methods and strategies to promote student reading, participation and interpersonal skills. In grades 4-6, the program provides after-school tutoring and includes family participation workshops, after-school homework clubs, summer camp, and retreats for students. This study followed students who began the program in 1st and 2nd grade and measured until grade 10. The program is based on the model used for the Seattle Social Development Project, which is a shorter intervention. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle
  • High

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

School-based tobacco prevention programs (Including Project Towards No Tobacco Use or TNT)

School-based tobacco prevention programs have curricula specifically designed for tobacco prevention and cessation. These programs aim to increase students’ peer pressure resistance skills, instruct about the health and social consequences of tobacco use, and often teach students to decipher pro-tobacco media messaging. Two name-brand programs included in this meta-analysis were Project Towards No Tobacco Use and Project SHOUT (Students Helping Others Understand Tobacco). Both programs are targeted toward middle school students and are delivered in 12-18 classroom sessions. (Source)

STARS (Start Taking Alcohol Risks Seriously) for Families

STARS (Start Taking Alcohol Risks Seriously) for Families is a universal program in which students entering 6th grade receive an individual health consultation with a school nurse addressing up to 12 risk factors. During the spring semester parents are sent up to 10 weekly postcards, requesting parents to take a few minutes to read and talk to their child about a key fact found on the card to help the child stay away from alcohol. Postcards are tailored to address particular risk factors identified in the health consultation. In the 7th grade, students receive another nurse consultation and a series of four family take-home lessons during the spring semester. (Source)

Evidence-Based Registry Ratings:

Grade Level

  • Middle

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Resources

 Strengthening Families for Parents and Youth (10-14)

Strengthening Families for Parents and Youth 10-14 (also known as the Iowa Strengthening Families Program) is a family-based program that attempts to reduce behavior problems and substance use by enhancing parenting skills, parent-child relationships, and family communication. The seven-week intervention is designed for 6th grade students and their families. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Elementary
  • Middle

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Teen Intervene

Teen Intervene is a brief motivational intervention for students using alcohol or drugs. School counselors identify youth suspected of using alcohol or drugs. Youth are then screened for substance abuse. Those meeting eligibility receive two 60-minute motivational interviews 7 to 10 days apart. In some of the studies included here the counselor also met separately with the parent, typically in the home. (Source)

Evidence-Based Registry Ratings:

Grade Level

  • Middle
  • High

Support Tier

  • Tier 1 ALL

Teen Marijuana Check-Up

Teen Marijuana Check-Up is a brief, school-based intervention for youth meeting diagnostic criteria for cannabis use disorders. Youth are introduced to the program via classroom presentations. Those who were concerned about reducing cannabis use are screened for eligibility. Participants receive two 45- to 60-minute motivational interviews a week apart. The intervention is provided during the school day without parental involvement. (Source)

Evidence-Based Registry Ratings:

Grade Level

  • Middle
  • High

Treatment Foster Care Oregon (Formerly: Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care)

Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) is an intensive therapeutic foster care alternative to institutional placement for adolescents who have problems with chronic antisocial behavior, emotional disturbance, and delinquency. MTFC activities include skills training and therapy for youth, as well as behavioral parent training and support for foster parents and biological parents. Participating youth are closely monitored by the foster parents. The length of the program varies, and ranged from 5 to 15 months. The studies in this meta-analysis compared MTFC to treatment as usual, which typically involved placement in a group home care institution. (Source)

Grade Level

  • Middle
  • High

Support Tier

  • Tier 3 FEW