title: Engagement in outpatient substance abuse treatment and employment outcomes.
abstract: This study, a collaboration between an academic research center and Washington State's health, employment, and correction departments, investigates the extent to which treatment engagement, a widely adopted performance measure, is associated with employment, an important outcome for individuals receiving treatment for substance use disorders. Two-stage Heckman probit regressions were conducted using 2008 administrative data for 7,570 adults receiving publicly funded treatment. The first stage predicted employment in the year following the first treatment visit, and three separate second-stage models predicted the number of quarters employed, wages, and hours worked. Engagement as a main effect was not significant for any of the employment outcomes. However, for clients with prior criminal justice involvement, engagement was associated with both employment and higher wages following treatment. Clients with criminal justice involvement face greater challenge regarding employment, so the identification of any actionable step which increases the likelihood of employment or wages is an important result.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Behavioral Health, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, MS035, Waltham, MA, 02454-9110, USA, dunigan@brandeis.edu.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dunigan
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Acevedo
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Deborah W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Garnick
authors.forename: Constance M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Horgan
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.forename: Margaret T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Panas
authors.forename: Grant A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Ritter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003415:Crime / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010045:Outpatients / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014861:Washington