Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago

Public Health and Corrections

Healthcare Needs of Addicted Criminal Offenders
funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Great Cities Institute Fellow Dr. Paul Goldstein leads a research team to study the "Healthcare Needs of Addicted Criminal Offenders.” The project, which began on September 30, 1998 and continues through August 31, 2003, is supported by a $2.9 million grant from NIH and NIDA.

The purpose of this study is to gain a detailed understanding of the health care needs and service utilization of a sample of chemically dependent criminal offenders, each of which is being followed over a five-year period. This study looks at current chemical dependency status, co-occurring psychiatric disorders, baseline medical conditions, including HIV status, and significant mediating factors such as participation in drug treatment, utilization of medical services within incarcerate and community settings, age, and injection drug use.

For more information on National Institutes of Health, click here
For more information on National Institute on Drug Abuse, click here

The Impact of Terminating SSI- SSDI for Drug Addicts and Alcoholics
funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

This 33-month project, which concluded at the end of 1999, assessed the impact on criminality, employment, housing, family relations, economics, self-image, and health status of individuals who were terminated from the addiction disability provided by Social Security in December of 1996.

The research examined what happened to these people's lives as a result of losing their benefits. The study also examined systems impacts of termination of the addiction disability.

To read the the summary of the findings click here.
For more information on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, click here.

Individual Impacts of Termination of the Addiction Disability within the SSI Program
funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT)
with Treatment Alternatives for Safer Communities (TASC), Inc. as a collaborating agency.

The major goals of this project, which began November 1, 1996 and concluded October 31, 1999, were to access the impact on criminality, employment, housing, family relations, economics, self-image and health status of individuals who were terminated from the addiction disability provided by Social Security in December of 1996.

A multi-city study sponsored by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) (http://csat.samhsa.gov/), with Treatment Alternatives for Safer Communities (TASC) (www.tasc.org), Inc. as a collaborating agency, this research project examined individual impact of termination of the addiction disability within the SSI program. The study employed a survey research methodology in which staff members of the Survey Research Lab at UIC interviewed 250 former benefit recipients twice each year.