RRTC Research

Several ongoing research projects have been established as a result of the RRTC on Substance Abuse, Disability, and Employment. The SARDI Program, as the lead agency of the RRTC, provides the background and expertise to fulfill these developing projects.

Research Component R1: Promoting substance use assessment by vocational rehabilitation agencies.
Development of a substance abuse screening instrument to be used primarily for state vocational rehabilitation programs that serve a total of over 500,000 persons with disabilities per year. The instrument will be employed in 3 state-wide systems (IL, OH, WV) as a trial before being released for national use. Investigators: Allen Heinemann, Dennis Moore, Frank Miller, John Corrigan.

Research Component R2: Efficacy of the individual placement and support (IPS) model for clients with disability and substance use disorders.
Randomized clinical trial of Individualized Placement and Support (IPS), a proven model for employing persons with severe mental illness, will be tested with persons with other disabilities. A randomized clinical trial, in concert with John Corrigan and the TBI Network at OSU, will test this model among persons with substance use disorders and traumatic brain injuries or other disabilities. Robert Drake at Dartmouth University is the originator of IPS. Investigators: Mary McAweeney, John Corrigan, Robert Drake, Dennis Moore.

Research Component R3: State level policy analyses and the provision of rehabilitation services to consumers with substance abuse problems.
Policy study of state vocational rehabilitation programs. There is considerable state-to-state variation in the proportion of persons with substance abuse diagnoses served by vocational rehabilitation programs, and this study will investigate policy and practices that contribute to this unusually large variation. This will involve several national surveys and in-depth qualitative case studies of nine state-wide systems. Investigators: Dennis Moore, Mary McAweeney, Margaret Glenn, Colette Duggan.

Research Component R4: An investigation of factors that contribute to unsuccessful case closures among consumers of vocational rehabilitation services
Analysis of unsuccessful vocational rehabilitation closures. Approximately one half billion dollars per year are expended by vocational rehabilitation programs on cases that are not successfully closed. A multi-state study will investigate reasons for these unsuccessful closures, with the primary hypothesis being that hidden substance abuse is a significant contributor to unsuccessful cases. Investigators: Dennis Moore, Mary McAweeney, Jo Ann Ford, David Hollar.