Program Evaluation for Federal Grantees

Evaluation of the Los Angeles County Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment Demonstration Project

ISAP’s Evaluation Center, under a two-year con­tract with the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health, Alcohol and Drug Program Administration will evaluate the county’s Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment (SBIRT) demonstration pro­ject within two community transitions units (CTUs) of Los Angeles County and City jails. The project, which is funded by the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs and SAMHSA, uses the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) to screen detainees for alcohol and other drug risk factors. The goal of the evaluation is to pro­vide a mechanism for monitoring the implementation and measuring the outcomes of this public health in­tervention, and to monitor the county’s progress toward three related objectives:

1. Provide a public health intervention that will in­form short-term detainees about the potentially harmful effects of substance use and abuse;
2. Screen at least 10,000 diverse, potentially high-risk, short-term detainees from the county sheriff’s and Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) CTUs per project year; and
3. Increase access to treatment among de­tainees in the sheriff’s and LAPD’s CTUs.

The ASSIST will be scored, and moderate- and high-scoring participants will be given information and warned about their risk of developing prob­lems related to substance use in the future. Detainees identified as currently using sub­stances at a high level of risk will be given a brief intervention consisting of a discussion with a trained substance abuse professional about the benefits of reducing or stopping their drug use, and they will receive a referral for treatment.

The evaluation will track and monitor Govern­ment Performance Results Act (GPRA) data, which covers several domains of participant func­tioning such as drug use, social connectedness, employment, and criminal justice status. It also will evaluate the process of implementation of this program at the two CTUs, and report the characteristics of participants who re­ceived the ASSIST, who received the brief inter­ven­tion, who received referrals for treatment, and who received treatment.

Evaluation of Horizons’ Integrated Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Treatment/HIV Services for Women Offenders

The Community Connections Program (CCP) of Horizons, Inc., is funded by a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to expand outpatient access to alcohol and other drug abuse (AODA) treat­ment and HIV services to women offenders, who are less likely to access treatment through formal sys­tems. The goal of the project is to increase partici­pants’ access to gender-specific, integrated outpatient AODA treatment and HIV prevention services. Objectives include:

1. Increase the number of women who partici­pate in integrated outpatient AODA/HIV services;
2. Enhance the CCP program with research-based AODA/HIV curricula focused on engaging hard-to-reach women, their children, and their partners; and
3. Increase the number of women and their partners who receive rapid HIV testing.

ISAP is conducting the evaluation, which in­cludes process and outcome components to monitor the im­plementation of the intervention as well as measures of changes in participants from pre- to post-treatment in the following domains:

• alcohol and drug use,
• parenting behaviors and family functioning,
• quality of life and social functioning,
• criminal behavior and legal status,
• mental health and physical health status,
• HIV/AIDS risk reduction behaviors, and

Evaluation of the Community Bridges Project

The purpose of the Community Bridges Project is to strengthen and enhance the comprehensive treatment system in Santa Monica, CA, for chronically homeless persons who have co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders.

The project plans to develop a fully integrated system and treatment model for this population through collaboration among service providers that include substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, health services, shelter and drop-in services, and transitional and permanent housing.

The integrated treatment model will incorporate several evidence-based practices, including motivational interviewing and relapse prevention, with the aim of (1) increasing access to treatment, (2) increasing continuity of care and services integration, (3) improving quality of life and increasing self-determination, and (4) improving levels of functioning among participants. In addition, the project aims to increase integration of services across the participating providers, to eliminate barriers to system entry, and to improve staff competency in treating homeless individuals with co-occurring disorders.

Evaluation of the Homeless Interventions Treatment Options Project (HI-TOP)

ISAP is conducting the process and outcome evaluations of the Homeless Interventions Treatment Options Project (HI-TOP), which is an intervention project provided by Special Service for Groups, Inc. The project is funded by a 5-year grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. HI-TOP provides comprehensive substance abuse treatment and case management services to homeless individuals who have co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders. Treatment approaches include cognitive behavioral and motivational enhancement therapies within the context of residential treatment and aftercare services provided to participants. The evaluation study is tracking the characteristics of project participants, and examining the delivery of project-specific services, adherence to the treatment models, barriers encountered in project implementation, and solutions devised to address those barriers. Focus groups with project participants and interviews with project staff are being conducted in order to monitor their respective perceptions and experiences of the project; feedback is provided from the evaluation in order to refine the project implementation.

Evaluation of New Elements Treatment Program, People in Progress

ISAP is conducting the process and outcome evaluations of the New Elements Treatment program, which is an intervention project provided by People in Progress. The project is funded by a 5-year grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. New Elements provides comprehensive substance abuse treatment and case management services to homeless individuals. The evaluation study is tracking the characteristics of project participants and examining the delivery of project-specific services, adherence to the treatment models, barriers encountered in project implementation, and solutions devised to address those barriers. Focus groups with project participants and interviews with project staff are being conducted in order to monitor their respective perceptions and experiences of the project; feedback is provided from the evaluation in order to refine the project implementation.

Evaluation of the Effective Adolescent Treatment (EAT) Project

ISAP is conducting the site-level evaluation of the Effective Adolescent Treatment (EAT) Project at Tarzana Treatment Centers (TTC). The EAT projects are sponsored by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. TTC is providing an evidence-based intervention, the Motivational Enhancement Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Adolescents – 5 sessions (MET/CBT 5), to adolescents who are in their outpatient substance abuse treatment program for youth. The goals of the MET/CBT 5 intervention are to increase motivation for and engagement in substance abuse treatment, and to provide behavioral skills training for relapse prevention and drug-use resistance. ISAP provides evaluation and data management services to the EAT project through a contract with its Data Management Center, monitors project implementation, and provides technical assistance for tracking and locating participants for follow-up.