Project Title: Abstinent Social Support in Oxford House
Funding Source: National Institute of Drug Abuse
Leonard A. Jason, Ph.D., Principal Investigator
Bradley Olson, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator
Dave Mueller, Ph.D., Project Director
The primary aim of this project is to employ a randomized design to more closely study the role played by post-release aftercare in the outcomes of 300 criminal offenders who received in-prison substance abuse treatment. This study proposes to compare the relative effectiveness of  Therapeutic Community (TC) aftercare to an Oxford House (OH) aftercare alternative that provides a supportive living environment without the professional treatment of TC aftercare.  Bringing scientific methods to the examination of TCs and the OH community-based recovery models for addiction will help identify the active ingredients of these recovery settings.  Typically, TC aftercare outcomes for prison TC graduates are compared to aftercare-as-usual, which can range across a wide variety of interventions.  Few if any comparison groups have provided a residential setting that emphasizes socialization and abstinence from drugs and alcohol, a hallmark of TC aftercare settings.  The proposed study will utilize ex-offenders randomly assigned to either TCs, OHs, or usual care post-release settings, and examine program effects (i.e., substance use, criminal and health outcomes), and economic factors associated with these models. Research findings from a study that contrasts these different approaches has the potential of influencing practice and informing policy. 



Project Title: Community participatory intervention with high-risk African-American women
Funding Source: National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Leonard A. Jason, Ph.D., Principal Investigator
Doreen Salina, Ph.D., Co-Investigator
Lisa Walt, Ph.D., Project Director


It is critical to evaluate gender-specific residential post-release programs that provide at-risk women with supports that serve to increase abstinence from substance use, reduce HIV risk behaviors, reduce psychological symptoms, decrease recidivism, and help attain better health outcomes. It is important to identify the types of settings or interventions that might promote health service utilization and more positive health outcomes following release from jail. Structure and supportive recovery homes may be effective in promoting health outcomes and increasing positive health behaviors through social support (Jason et al., 2006b). From initial contact onward, the DePaul research team and the Oxford House community have been active participants and both endeavored to maintain the alliance. The University team not only strived to cultivate collaborative and cooperative relationships with Oxford House, but also was committed to active involvement in the process of creating change. Some examples of collaborative endeavors of the research team and Oxford House include the involvement in the establishment of the first Men’s, first Women's, and first Women with Children’s Oxford Houses in Illinois, as well as historical and ongoing involvement in activities that support the national growth of Oxford House. The present study will examine the potentially different roles of abstinence-specific and general social support for African-American women who are exiting from the criminal justice system. A randomized pretest-posttest experimental design will be employed that compares communal-living settings supportive of abstinence (i.e., Oxford House condition) to a usual care condition. We hypothesize that women assigned to the Oxford House condition will report reduced HIV risk behaviors and better health outcomes (i.e., better medical adherence and health service utilization), decreased recidivism, increased abstinence from substance use, improved psychological functioning, and higher levels of support than women assigned to the usual care condition at all follow-up intervals. We hope to reduce health disparities by using community-based participatory research that is jointly sponsored by the Oxford House community and our research group.