The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) suppports four non-profit units, Area Alcohol Education and Training Programs (AAETP), organized in 1974 to facilitate the delivery of alcohol education and training at the state and local level. In 1976, the NIAAA initiated an evaluation of the AAETP. Goals were to determine inter-organizational relationships, examine individual needs assessment methodologies, define and evaluate the current roles of the AAETP, and determine appropriate roles for the AAETP in the future. Recommendations included: (1) decentralized units should remain independent nonprofit organizations; (2) NIAAA should be the primary source of funding, using contracts as opposed to grants; (3) AAETP boundaries should be maintained for administrative convenience, with the recognition that states may associate with other units; (4) decentralized units should maintain small, highly skilled staffs with general as well as specialized capabilities in the field of alcohol education and training; (5) the planning cycle should be short-term to allow flexibility in meeting identified needs; (6) decentralized units should develop operational, measurable, and prioritized objectives in a self-evaluation system; and (7) decentralized units should be encouraged to develop multiple sources of funding, including other grants and contracts and fees for services. (MV)