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The conclusions of Ohio's 4-year study on the cost-effectiveness of substance abuse treatment confirm what addiction services professionals have known from experience all along. Drug treatment works, improves people's lives, and saves money. And for people on welfare with substance abuse problems—an estimated 20 to 30 percent of welfare heads of household—the study holds out even more promise. People who engage in substance abuse treatment show a substantial increase in their ability to get and keep a job, a crucial consideration in the era of welfare

reform.

Conducted by CATOR/New Standards for the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ODADAS), the study analyzed abstinence/relapse patterns, job problems, criminal justice involvement, health care utilization, and social and family relationships. The information came from the clients themselves.

People who were admitted for substance abuse treatment filled out comprehensive questionnaires covering their alcohol and drug use, their health, their legal issues, and their employment histories. Researchers contacted these clients 6 months after intake, and again 1 year after intake. The results, according to ODADAS Director Luceille Fleming, "are astounding." Among those who completed treatment, Fleming said, "absenteeism was reduced by 61 percent, incomplete work by 37 percent, and mistakes in work by 36 percent. Real numbers, real people, real benefits to the employer, to the employee, and to Ohio taxpayers."

The economic impact of substance abuse treatment completion was overwhelmingly positive for improved job performance and diminished involvement with the criminal justice system. The Ohio Cost-Effectiveness Study also showed sizable cost offsets for all treatment types and levels of client severity. Detoxification plus treatment services resulted in a higher level of abstinence for all clients than detoxification alone. And clients who received intensive

levels of service and continuing care achieved a higher level of abstinence than those who did not.

Fleming attributes these outcomes to "early detection and close collaborative intervention by County Human Services Departments and the County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Boards. Their shared goal is to reduce addiction as an impediment to employment through appropriate referral and monitored treatment," she said.

"Ohio is proud of its study because it was done by an outside entity and ODADAS had no control over which programs were chosen for the survey. It is large enough to make us confident of the results," Fleming said. The study results demonstrate that "the success of welfare reform will depend significantly upon the availability and utilization of appropriate treatment for addiction-related problems," she added. "It is critical that this opportunity not be wasted."

CSAT, the Treatment Improvement Exchange, and the editors of the TIE Communiqué thank Luceille Fleming, Director, Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, and her staff members for their assistance in the preparation of this article. Further information on the Ohio Cost-Effectiveness Study can be obtained from the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, Two Nationwide Plaza, 280 North High St., 12th Floor, Columbus, OH 43215-2537; telephone: 614-466-3445; TDD/TTY: 614-644-9140; fax: 614-752-8645. Current information and news releases are also available at their Web site: http://www.state.oh.us/ada/odada.htm

Economic Impact of Substance Abuse Treatment on Job Performance

Source: Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, 1996.

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