Schmitt trains intake staff at SRS, which provides employment services to cash assistance and Food Stamp recipients, to recognize when clients may have drug or alcohol abuse problems. An alcohol and drug component has been built into the employability assessment required for participation in the State's work programs. Upon meeting the client, Kansas Works intake staff note whether a client seems drunk or high. Case managers may use the CAGE questionnaire, a brief screening instrument that identifies covert substance abuse problems. Or case managers may ask clients directly whether drug or alcohol use has ever affected their work.
Clients often acknowledge that substance abuse has been a problem in the past.
But regardless of whether a client openly self-reports substance abuse difficulties, the client's medical record, employment history, and interview responses may contain information that signals a problem. SRS intake staff know that these patterns indicate that the client needs help. The assessment instruments make it easier for case managers to raise the issue of substance abuse with clients, Evans noted. They were worried about being too intrusive and confronting clients with drug abuse. But since the program began, Evans reported, few clients have refused to go for treatment, a result that surprised her.