Supported Work (From Drug Use and Crime Report of the Panel on Drug Use and Criminal Behavior, P 553-559, 1976 - See NCJ-40293)

• NCJ Number: 70676
• Author(s): F W Kramer; R L Hubbard
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 7 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Part of the appendix to the Drug Use and Crime Report, the paper reviews the literature dealing with the relationships among drug-use, criminality, and employment, and describes three supported-work projects: Pioneer Messenger Service, Wildcat, and the Supported Employment Demonstration Project.

Abstract

A high proportion of treatment clients are unemployed or have a major source of income other than a legal job at entry. Several studies have found that drug users had higher rates of current unemployment than nonusers and that work patterns deteriorated after onset of addiction. Other studies provide evidence than an addict's employment can be an important component of successful rehabilitation and that unemployment may lead to relapse. Several programs of supported work have been established to provide the training, the background, and the experience needed for addicts to find nonsupported work and hopefully to reduce addiction and criminality. The Pioneer Messenger Service, initiated by the Vera Institute of Justice in New York City in 1971, was so successful in showing that addicts could indeed hold jobs, that a larger supported-work program was begun by the Vera Institute called Wildcat. Wildcat provided public service work for over 3,800 exoffenders and exaddicts from 1972-75, with 436 clients moving to nonsupported jobs and 86 percent of those retaining the jobs for at least a year. An experimental design was developed to evaluate Wildcat with positive results. The largest support work program, Supported Employment Demonstration Project, has developed 3-year supported-employment programs in 13 cities, each providing a controlled, low-stress work environment and directed at exoffenders, exaddicts, youth, and female heads of households on welfare. An experimental program evaluation design is being used to analyze the relationship of drug use, work record, and sources of income and thus provide an assesment of the program's impact. A total of 29 references are included.