In recent years, student assistance programs have become the model approach to early intervention in adolescent substance abuse. Despite their widespread adoption in the nation's schools, an assertions of program success, there is little substantiation of their effectiveness. The paper reviews the available research on student assistance programs and provides information from the evaluation of a multi-school program in Washington state. It finds that students who participate in student assistance programs generally show improvements, especially in regard to levels of substance abuse, but there is insufficient evidence to judge the program superior to other approaches. There is need for continued program development and more research.