Noted drug court expert Steven Belenko, Ph.D., of the Treatment Research Institute to lead six-month project; publication expected to aid policy makers, treatment personnel to make case for more and better targeted funding for substance abuse treatment.

The National Rural Institute on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NRADAN) has commissioned the Philadelphia-based Treatment Research Institute (TRI) to develop a paper entitled "The Economic Benefits of Drug Treatment: A Critical Review of the Evidence for Policy Makers." While not the first comprehensive review of its kind, the NRADAN report will be specifically directed to policy makers seeking to understand the research literature on the economic benefits of substance abuse treatment, and to provide economic justification for public support for substance abuse treatment services.

The Principal Investigator on the paper will be TRI's Steven Belenko, Ph.D., a noted expert on alternatives to incarceration for substance abusing offenders. Belenko developed two similar papers for drug courts while at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. Other nationally recognized participants include A. Thomas McLellan, Ph.D., TRI's Executive Director, and health economist Michael French, Ph.D., a leading researcher on the economics of treatment. The paper will be completed by the end of January 2005 and disseminated to State substance abuse agencies, treatment practitioners and legislators across the nation.

In announcing the project NRADAN Board member Jeffrey Kushner, also the Drug Court Administrator for the City of St. Louis, Missouri, noted that Belenko's Drug Court publications have had an enormous impact for the drug court field. "We are hopeful that a similar document directed at decision-makers across the country will result in a greater investment in public funding for treatment resources," he said.

Over the past decade, a number of studies have found that properly designed and delivered substance abuse treatment services can produce financial savings well in excess of the initial investment of taxpayer dollars. Most of these have not been broadly disseminated to practitioners and policy makers. Many are presented in highly technical, economic jargon that is not easily translated into a compelling argument for more treatment dollars.

The Treatment Research Institute is asking for copies of any research including fugitive research that has been completed and shows treatment cost-benefit that might meet criteria established by TRI for this publication. Agencies with cost-benefit studies should forward them to: Dr. Steven Belenko, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Treatment Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, 600 Public Ledger Building, 150 South Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106-3475 or Email at: sbelenko@tresearch.org.

The initiative, timed to coincide with NRADAN's 20th anniversary, was announced in June. Substantial funding support comes from the Scaife Family Foundation. The publication is scheduled to be printed and disseminated in January of 2005.