This website is a draft. It was designed to be tested by CSAP SIG grantees. The final version may be modified and will include any information that may be missing from this website.

This website is designed to help CSAP grantees, contractors and other prevention professionals choose appropriate measures for use in evaluating substance abuse prevention programs. By selecting the desired substance abuse domain and construct, the user is provided with a list of CSAP-recommended measures for data collection.

These measures are the culmination of an effort that began several years ago. In October 1998, CSAP convened researchers in the substance abuse field to provide expert review and recommendation of measures across five domains" Alcohol, Tobacco, and other Drug Use; Individual/Peer; Family; School; and Community. This initiative was launched to meet several key objectives of CSAP and the States:

• To respond to GPRA requirements: The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) mandate has increased Federal accountability for determining and monitoring progress in all Federally-funded programs. These recommended measures will assist CSAP in measuring outcomes of many different types of substance prevention programs.
• To promote better and less costly measures in the substance abuse field: For many programs, resources devoted to evaluation are limited. By developing and providing these recommended scales, CSAP hopes to provide programs with ready access to proven measures, and, consequently, enable scarce evaluation resources to be devoted to addressing other methodological needs.
• Improve accessibility of common data through cross-site evaluations: By providing some commonality in data collection, cross-site data will be more accessible, not only for multiple grantees within a program, but also programs.

While we know that these are not always appropriate, it is hoped that this website will help providers, researchers, and evaluators to make more informed decisions and thus advance the field of substance abuse prevention. CSAP will continue to work to identify appropriate measures for different demographic groups and constructs important to assessing effectiveness.