Substance use disorder (SUD) among adolescents has a significant impact on families and communities. It can lead to criminality, poor school performance, chronic use over a lifetime, high risk behaviors, and even premature death. Recovery from SUD is more than physical abstinence from alcohol and other drugs. Mental health and emotional well-being…

Substance use disorders among adolescents can have detrimental and long-term impacts on their educational goals. As such, high school students in recovery who wish to pursue a college education can face unique challenges, ranging from a potential history with the criminal justice system and inequitable evaluative metrics poorly influencing the…

For adolescents in recovery from a substance use disorder, school is a setting that may result in interactions with peer groups who are actively using alcohol or other drugs. Unfortunately, after treatment, these students may encounter multiple risk factors when returning to the setting where their substance use problems originated. Recovery High…

The objectives of the review are to summarize and synthesize the available research evidence on the effects of recovery schools for improving academic success and social and emotional well-being among high-school and college students who are in recovery from substance use. The proposed review will include studies that use an experimental or…

Success and engagement at school and in postsecondary education are critical to healthy youth development. For youth in recovery from substance use disorders (SUDs), school attendance, engagement, and achievement build human capital by motivating personal growth, creating new opportunities and social networks, and increasing life satisfaction and…

The progression from prescription opioid (RXO) abuse to RXO addiction is not well understood in adolescents, nor is the progression from RXO addiction to heroin abuse. The purpose of this pilot study was to characterize the development of RXO drug abuse, RXO drug addiction, and heroin abuse in a small cohort of adolescents recovering from opioid…

This research presents data linking the impact of substance disorder to academic achievement, using data gathered at a recovery high school. Recovery schools provide recovery supports and a high-quality education to students with substance use disorders. The Global Appraisal of Individual Needs -- Short Screener and the Northwest Evaluation…

Evidence from previous research suggests that peers at times exert negative influence and at other times exert positive influence on drug and alcohol use among adolescents in recovery. This study explores recovery high school staff members' perceptions of peer support among students in recovery high schools using qualitative interview data. Themes…

The newly formed national group, Young People in Recovery, is comprised of young people, roughly 17-28 years old, who are in long term recovery. Their goal is to increase awareness amongst social service providers about the needs of youth in recovery, increase services, and facilitate partnerships which support young people in finding and…

Recovery high schools are secondary schools designed specifically for students recovering from substance use or co-occurring disorders. Studies have affirmed the chronic nature of substance use disorders and the developmental value of social supports for adolescents. As part of understanding human growth and development, training programs for…

This article reviews findings from the authors' studies of recovery high schools (RHS), including a 1995 program evaluation of a school in New Mexico (Moberg & Thaler, 1995), a 2006-09 descriptive study of 17 recovery high schools (Moberg & Finch, 2008), and presents early findings from a current study of the effectiveness of recovery high…

Data from 17 recovery high schools suggest programs are dynamic and vary in enrollment, fiscal stability, governance, staffing, and organizational structure. Schools struggle with enrollment, funding, lack of primary treatment accessibility, academic rigor, and institutional support. Still, for adolescents having received treatment for substance…

Accurate evaluation and documentation of the efficacy of recovery schools can be vital to the continuation and expansion of these beneficial resources. A very limited data set currently exists that examines the value of specific schools established to support adolescents and young adults in recovery; additional research is necessary. The following…