The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration funded the Seventh Annual Call for Papers/Awards for Excellence 2004 competition hosted by the National Rural Alcohol and Drug Abuse Network (NRADAN). The Awards for Excellence program was initiated by the late Larry Monson, cofounder of NRADAN, who sought to recognize effective and innovative models of treatment and prevention services for rural populations. The Awards for Excellence publication seeks to promote and showcase research addressing the unique and special challenges of providing treatment services to individuals in rural and frontier areas who abuse substances and their families.