Moving substance-abusing women from welfare to work

Substance abuse and welfare reform are among the nation's highest prioritie s, and research that examines linkages between the two is of extreme import ance to both government policy and the community. Welfare reform will have serious implications for substance abusers as well as for the various profe ssionals who treat them and work to move their clients into functional reco very and self-sufficiency. Within the context of welfare reform and the spe cial needs of substance-abusing populations, the present study examines cur rent welfare status, work status, and barriers and facilitators to gaining and maintaining employment among 100 low income women who participated in a long-term residential substance-abuse treatment program in,Miami, Florida. Participants completed a face-to-face interview to assess a detailed emplo yment history and current sources of income as well as the Addiction Severi ty Index. Results indicate that completers of the treatment program were mo re likely to be working post-discharge than non-completers. Similarly, the longer the length of stay in the program, the more likely the client was to be working post-discharge. Multivariate analysis indicates a high-school e ducation, participation in the treatment center's aftercare program, and tr eatment duration of more than one year were independently related to work s tatus. These data suggest that as welfare reform becomes a reality, continu ing support of various types, particularly drug treatment, is needed to ass ist substance-abusing women in gaining and maintaining employment.