Responding to the call for research that systematically examines the interrelationship between client characteristics, program services and drug treatment outcomes, the proposed research will investigate the long-standing view among substance abuse treatment providers, researchers, and policy makers, that maximally effective drug abuse treatment must attend to the employment, health, housing, and other distal needs of the client. According to this view, attending to the primary drug problem is necessary but not always sufficient in the successful treatment of drug problems. Although the research on drug treatment effectiveness has made tremendous strides in the last two decades, our limited understanding of the effects of distal needs on treatment engagement and treatment outcomes is a noticeable gap in the empirical literature. Employing a secondary analysis of a recently completed treatment outcomes study, the proposed research will assist in closing this gap by identifying the needs of clients entering outpatient drug treatment programs. It will assess the effects of these needs on treatment engagement and treatment outcomes. It will evaluate the effectiveness of direct and ancillary services in fulfilling these needs and affecting positive treatment outcomes.
