Citation

McLellan AT, Gutman M, Lynch K, McKay JR, Ketterlinus R, Morgenstern J, Woolis D. Eval. Rev. 2003; 27(6): 656-680.

Affiliation

Treatment Research Institute, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0193841X03259029

PMID

14650279

Abstract

AIM: To evaluate the effectiveness of a multiservice intervention designed to move substance-abusing women on welfare to sobriety and self-sufficiency by addressing their substance abuse, domestic violence, employment, and basic needs. DESIGN: A field evaluation with repeated measures at 6 and 12 months on an intent-to-treat sample of 529 women conducted in 11 selected sites across the country. There were significant improvements shown in substance use and family and social functioning by the 6-month point, and additional improvements in employment by the 12-month point. By 12 months, more than 46% were abstinent from alcohol and other drugs, and 30% were employed at least part-time. There were only modest improvements shown in the medical and psychiatric status of these women. These preliminary findings suggest that site-level interagency coordination and program-level case management were associated with improvements in the targeted areas as predicted by the model. Future work will require a more closely specified, manual-guided form of the intervention plus the inclusion of control groups and cost measures to fully evaluate the cost benefits from the final form of the intervention.

Language: en