The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is dedicated to preventing and reversing trends of increased delinquency and violence among adolescents. These trends have alarmed the public and challenged the juvenile justice system. It is widely accepted that increases in delinquency and violence over the past decade are rooted in a number of interrelated social problems—child abuse and neglect, alcohol and drug abuse, youth conflict and aggression, and early sexual involvement—that may originate within the family structure. The focus of OJJDP's Family Strengthening Series is to provide assistance to ongoing efforts across the country to strengthen the family unit by discussing the effectiveness of family intervention programs and providing resources to families and communities.

Parents can play powerful, proactive roles in guiding child development. Studies have shown that parents can be taught to use consistent and skillful parenting practices, which are key to proactive family management. Effective parent training has been shown to help parents avoid specific parenting practices that increase the risk for adolescent problem behaviors and to increase practices that are likely to enhance family communication and bonding. Preparing for the Drug Free Years (PDFY) is one such program. The flexible PDFY curriculum, which is designed for universal application and has been used and adapted with a broad range of families of various socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, targets parents of children in grades four through seven. It is designed to effectively reach adult learners regardless of learning style or level of education.

This Bulletin provides an overview of the PDFY parenting program and summarizes results of studies of the program. The research presented here is unique. Few studies with strong research designs have examined the effectiveness of parent training offered as a universal preventive intervention.

The goal of PDFY is to empower parents of children ages 8 to 14 to reduce the risks that their children will abuse drugs and alcohol or develop other common adolescent problems. PDFY teaches parents how to reduce critical risk factors and enhance protective factors that are especially important during the late elementary and middle school years.