Building bridges: treatment research partnerships in the community.

Substance abuse during pregnancy continues to affect the lives of families across the United States. Most communities are not organized to deal with the multiple problems that must be addressed when developing intervention and treatment programs for pregnant women. At the same time, many citizens and community organizations may be suspicious of outside investigators stepping in to design outreach and treatment programs within existing structures and organizations. These difficulties are multiplied if the community regards the research as an opportunity to take advantage of the community without providing any long-term benefit to the community members.