At the forefront of substance abuse service delivery since 1970, CASPAR:

• operates one of three “wet” shelters in the state for homeless men and women with active substance use disorders, and provides life saving services to 107 people nightly and over 1,000 annually.

• launched one of the first residential treatment programs in the country for substance abusing women, and operates the only demonstration project for chronically homeless women in the region.

• opened the first residential treatment program in Massachusetts exclusively for pregnant, post-partum, and parenting women and their infants. Since 1988, it has been home to over 300 healthy babies.

• published the first definitive gender specific book on treating substance abusing women in the 1980s, and recently revised the text to reflect current clinical “best practices” in women’s treatment and the changing demographics and patterns of substance use among women.

• pioneered youth peer leadership and a Student Assistance Program model, which have been scientifically validated and recognized as “best practices” in prevention for youth.

• published the findings from a three year longitudinal research study of middle and high school youth from Cambridge and Somerville in the November 2006 edition of The Journal of Primary Prevention.