Assessing the value of a short-term residential drug treatment program for homeless men.
Cocaine and other substance abuse has been found to be a contributing or primary cause of homelessness in urban men. This project evaluated the effectiveness of the Grant Street Partnership (GSP), a shelter-based treatment program for homeless, cocaine-abusing men, consisting of 90 days of residential treatment and 6 months of aftercare. We tested the hypothesis that the 182 men randomized to the GSP group, as compared to the 112 men randomized to a "usual services" group, would show significantly greater improvement over time in the areas of drug use and residential and economic stability. An 80% response rate was achieved overall for the five follow-up points. Cocaine use, defined as use of cocaine at least once in the prior 30 days, declined from about 90% at baseline for both groups to 11% in the GSP group and 55% in the control group at 21 months. The GSP group was also more likely than the usual services group to have achieved residential stability by the time of the 9 month follow-up. Neither group experienced an improvement over time in employment status.
Lam
J A
JA
Northeast Program Evaluation Center, VA Medical Center, West Haven, CT 06516, USA.
Jekel
J F
JF
Thompson
K S
KS
Leaf
P J
PJ
Hartwell
S W
SW
Florio
L
L
D000328:Adult; D003042:Cocaine; D003237:Connecticut; D003631:Day Care, Medical; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D011638:Public Housing; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D003042:Cocaine