Efficacy of the Customized Employment Supports (CES) Model of Vocational Rehabilitation for Unemployed Methadone Patients: Preliminary Results

• Published in: Substance use & misuse Vol. 39; no. 13-14; pp. 2261 - 2285
• Main Authors: Staines, Graham L., Blankertz, Laura, Magura, Stephen, Bali, Priti, Madison, Elizabeth M., Spinelli, Michael, Horowitz, Emily, Guarino, Honoria, Grandy, Audrey, Fong, Chunki, Gomez, Augustin, Dimun, Amy, Friedman, Ellen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Colchester Informa UK Ltd 2004; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; Competitive employment; Counseling; Customized Employment Supports model; Drug addicts; Employment; Female; Fieldwork; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Methadone; Methadone - therapeutic use; Methadone treatment; Middle Aged; Models, Theoretical; Narcotics - therapeutic use; Opiates; Opioid-Related Disorders - rehabilitation; Professional-Patient Relations; Psychoanalysis; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Randomized clinical trial; Randomized controlled trials; Substance use; Therapeutic alliance; Therapeutic alliances; Treatment; Treatment Outcome; USA; Vocational counseling; Vocational Guidance; Vocational rehabilitation; Human; Drug addiction; Vocational rehabilitation; Addiction; Employment; Opiates; Models; Methadone; Narcotic analgesic; Unemployment; Psychiatry
• ISSN: 1082-6084; 1532-2491
• DOI: 10.1081/JA-200034618

This article presents initial efficacy data for an innovative vocational rehabilitation model designed for methadone-maintained patients-the Customized Employment Supports (CES) model. In this model, a CES counselor works intensively with a small caseload of patients in order to overcome the vocational as well as nonvocational barriers that hinder their employment, with the goal of attaining rapid placement in competitive employment. The CES model was implemented at two Manhattan methadone treatment programs as part of a randomized clinical trial comparing the model's employment outcomes with those of standard vocational counseling. The study tested the hypothesis that patients in the experimental group will have better employment outcomes than those in the comparison group. The data were collected from May 2001 through September 2003. The sample consisted of the first 121 patients who had completed their 6-month follow-up interviews. The preliminary results supported the hypothesis for two indices of paid employment, i.e., the CES group was more likely to obtain both competitive employment and informal paid employment. The clinical trial is continuing.