Recorded presentation

Ronald E. Claus, PhD, Robert Orwin, PhD, Wendy Kissin, PhD, and Tracy Williams, MSPH. Westat, 1650 Research Blvd, Rockville, MD 20850, 301-294-3885, wendykissin@westat.com

There is growing evidence that treatment duration and continuity of care are more important than the intensity and amount of care, consistent with the observation that many enduring aspects of clients’ environments are associated with recovery and relapse. Recent research has also stressed the importance of providing specialized services to substance abusing women that may facilitate their engagement in treatment. This retrospective study reports on outcomes for women admitted to long-term residential substance abuse treatment in Washington State between 1994 and mid-2000. A group of women with children (n=697) were admitted to 7 agencies offering specialized, women’s only treatment. Another group consisted of women (n=751) who were admitted to 9 agencies that provided standard, mixed-gender treatment. Treatment, employment and arrest outcomes were gathered from administrative data sources on each client for two years before and four years after the index admission. The present study will examine similarities and differences between these two groups in proximal treatment outcomes. Preliminary, non-weighted analyses showed that length of stay, discharge referrals, and treatment completion rates differed significantly between the groups, with sizeable within-group variation observed as well. Multilevel modeling will be used to examine the relation between client and program-level characteristics and near-term outcomes, anticipating that women in specialized treatment will demonstrate improved retention, longer length of stay, and higher rates of transition to continuing care. Implications for cost effectiveness, risk of relapse, employment and crime-related outcomes will be discussed.

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