The proposed demonstration project provides and evaluates extended intervention services for individuals with alcohol problems who are homeless. The project includes two types of interventions and a control group. 1) In the case management option, 120 individuals will receive intensive case management services from a free-standing agency. 2) In the case management and supported housing option, 120 individuals not only receive such help from the case manager, but for a period receive housing in mixed population, recently renovated Single Room Occupancy units. Subjects (men and women of all ethnic groups) will be recruited from short-term intervention programs that span the geography of Chicago, Illinois. They will tie randomly placed in each experimental group and also in a control group. They will be intensively interviewed three times: upon selection, eight months later, when the intensive component of the intervention is completed, and six months after this point. Individuals who do not receive treatment will be located using a proven methodology developed by one of the Principal Investigators. Because attrition will be higher, 200 subjects will be in the control group. Using the mandated instruments and a comprehensive array of other data, the research conducts a process assessment to determine the extent to which: 1) all components of the intervention are in place, 2) clients are referred to these components, 3) clients remain in the program and accept referrals to various interventions, 4) case managers are helpful in improving access to other services, 5) the costs of provision of care are within the original estimates, and 6) individual traits correlate with dropping out or receiving fewer services. The research includes an outcome evaluation which determines whether each intervention, compared to other interventions as veIl as to the control group, 1) reduces drinking behavior, 2) improves mental health and residential stability, 3) increases contact between individuals and their potential social support and social service networks, and 4) improves measures of individual coping ability. The outcome evaluation also determines whether interventions are more effective for some individuals than for others. Data analysis relies on analysis of covariance, logistic regression, and discriminant analysis.
| Sosin, Michael R (2002) Outcomes and sample selection: the case of a homelessness and substance abuse intervention. Br J Math Stat Psychol 55:63-91 |
| Sosin, M R (2001) Service intensity and organizational attributes: a preliminary inquiry. Adm Policy Ment Health 28:371-92 |
| Sosin, M R; Bruni, M (1997) Homelessness and vulnerability among adults with and without alcohol problems. Subst Use Misuse 32:939-68 |
| Sosin, M R; Bruni, M; Reidy, M (1995) Paths and impacts in the progressive independence model: a homelessness and substance abuse intervention in Chicago. J Addict Dis 14:1-20 |
