The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of an outreac
h strategy designed to engage substance-abusing individuals who did no
t keep their initial treatment appointment. After missing their first
scheduled appointment, telephone contact was attempted for 267 consecu
tive prospective patients as part of an attempt to engage them in trea
tment. Results indicated that this telephone contact was useful at pro
mpting these individuals to both reschedule and arrive for intake. Our
concern that persons who failed to keep initial appointments might be
less motivated for treatment was not supported, as results indicated
that treatment retention for these subjects was similar to that of a s
ample of individuals who arrived for intake as scheduled. These result
s support the value of outreach efforts as a means of engaging substan
ce-abusing individuals who otherwise might not have experienced treatm
ent.