Mt. Olive One-Stop Community Center: Addressing ATOD use and HIV risk in an urban, ex-offender population

Introduction: The Mt. Olive One-Stop Community Center (MTO) was developed to reduce the impact of substance abuse on ex-offenders. This project was accomplished by the SARDI Program at Wright State University, in partnership with a 100-year-old neighborhood church, an outpatient SUD treatment program, and Montgomery County Public Health in Dayton, OH.  This presentation reports the outcomes of this 6-year-old project.

 

Method: Between 10/1/2007 and 9/30/13, the MTO project served 375 participants (mean age = 42.3); 98.9% of the 281 male participants and 96.8% of the 94 female participants were African American. Services provided include substance abuse/HIV risk screening, HIV/Hepatitis C testing, HIV/ATOD education, strengths-based case management, and substance abuse treatment. All participants in the MTO received strengths-based case management, to help participants link to SUD treatment /recovery, obtain needed services, and identify their strengths and abilities. Data collected at baseline and 6-month follow-up included HIV knowledge and risk perception, substance use, housing, employment, and arrest history.

Results: Significant improvements in HIV knowledge (p=.046) and risk perception (p<.001) were observed. Alcohol use was significantly reduced (p<.001), less days were spent drinking to intoxication (p=.007), and use of illegal drugs (p<.001) were significantly reduced after six months of services at MTO. The percentage of participants who had permanent housing increased by 34.4%, unemployment decreased from 86.9% to 82.5%, and recidivism was reduced significantly (p<.001). 

Conclusions: The wraparound services provided at MTO, including strengths-based case management, contributed to decreased ATOD use, stabilized housing, increased employment, and reduced recidivism for this population of ex-offenders.