Findings indicate that intensive case management interventions are effective in lowering barriers to treatment engagement. Further study is clearly needed to examine rates of engagement in substance abuse treatment for welfare recipients in other systems. Study details are provided below. However, as states implement welfare reform attempts to address this problem take on greater urgency. States have adopted strict new work requirements and time limits on receipt of welfare benefits.
Substance abusers face substantial barriers to employability.
For example, Wickizer et al. Thus, research findings support the recommendations of treatment professionals that engaging clients in substance abuse treatment is critical to the process of promoting self-sufficiency. States are struggling to develop innovative strategies to effectively address substance abuse in the context of welfare reform. Typically these systems involve an expansion of funding for substance abuse treatment, screening for substance abuse within welfare contexts, triage and referral of recipients with problems to substance abuse treatment, and coordination of treatment with employment programming. These approaches represent great strides in reducing the fragmentation that has existed between welfare and substance abuse treatment services, but continue to rely on the existing structure of substance abuse treatment.