Two US interventions, both designed to combat alcohol abuse and the damage it does to young people’s aspirations and achievements have earned a place on the Blueprints Promising Programs list.

All Blueprints Promising Programs – 17 at the latest count – have reached a secondary level of proven effectiveness. They have a strong research design and have been shown by rigorous evaluation to bring about significant improvements in outcomes.

They include the Perry Preschool Project, already quite well known outside the US and a number of antisocial behavior and substance abuse initiatives, which broadly seek to improve the connections and levels of mutual support between school, family, community and individual.

The two additions just announced are Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention of College Students (BASICS) and Strong African American Families (SAAF).

BASICS is a targeted intervention for college students aged between 18 and 24 who drink to the point of risking academic failure, social conflict, injury or physical or sexual violence. Based on a simple interview routine, it has emerged from two randomized controlled trials – one of which followed participaqnts' progress over four years – with compelling evidence that it reduces alcohol consumption and associated harm.

The work of G Alan Marlatt at the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington, BASICS does not aim to treat young people who are already severely alcohol-dependent but to nip source and symptoms in the bud. There is comprehensive assessment, feedback, advice and referral to specialist services if required. It is one of the few treatment programs designed for the upper end of the adolescent age spectrum.

Strong African American Families comes out of the Center for Family Research at the University of Georgia. Modeled on the Strengthening Families program (another on the Blueprints “Promising” list, it works specifically with urban African American families to improve parenting practices and help prevent alcohol abuse.

It brings together groups of parents and their ten to 12-year-old children for two hours a week for seven weeks. All share a meal then split into two groups with their contemporaries and group facilitators for skill-building discussions and exercises. The ethos is based on enhancing the resources and skills families already possess.

To achieve “model” program status further evaluation and replication will be needed. Both programs will have to demonstrate their effectiveness by independent evaluations, show that it is sustained over time and when ramped-up to full scale.

Despite the wealth of innovation around the world few interventions meet all of the top-level Blueprints criteria [See Proving that answers don’t come out of the blue]. Hence the absence of any new addition to the list in the last two years.