THE ROLE OF CASE-MANAGEMENT IN RETAINING CLIENTS IN SUBSTANCE-ABUSE TREATMENT - AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS

The positive relationship between time spent in substance-abuse treatm ent and improved outcomes has led to a significant interest in interve ntions that encourage substance abusers to remain in treatment. Case m anagement has been tested for its role in both encouraging continued p articipation and directly affecting desired outcomes. This article rep orts findings from cut ongoing longitudinal study that randomly assign ed over 600 substance abusers entering treatment to one of two groups, either. (I) usual primary and aftercare drug treatment services or (2 ) usual services and an enhancement of strengths-based case management . A cluster analytic technique was used to identify patterns of partic ipation in post-primary treatment, i.e., aftercare and case management , among those substance abusers in the enhanced group. Three distinct clusters emerge that suggest a prominent role for this model of case m anagement as either an adjunct or an alternative to conventional treat ment.