The Iowa Consortium is a multi-disciplinary statewide organization that was created in 1991 to encourage and facilitate collaborative research in the area of substance abuse. The impetus for the Consortium came from state government officials interested in greater involvement in and contact with research. University officials and researchers from four universities in Iowa responded to this interest and came together with the state and the field to develop the consortium concept, one believed to be relatively unique across the country in its commitment to broad based involvement of all three sectors in the planning, development, and implementation of research and evaluation projects.
The Consortium is advised by a coordinating board, composed of representatives from each of the following organizations:
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Office of Drug Control Policy (formerly Governor’s |
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The universities are represented by researchers
from various disciplines, including psychiatry, social work, sociology and
education. The state agencies are represented by key individuals responsible for
substance abuse related activities within their departments. Field representatives are agency directors
from both community-based and hospital-based programs and include leadership
from the Iowa Substance Abuse Program Directors Association, a key and active
entity within the substance abuse system in
The Consortium is supported by a small special
appropriation from the State of
During the past ten years, the Consortium has
evolved from a small office with one part-time staff person to an active,
vibrant center supporting all types of research, development, educational, and
administrative activities. Although
hosted by the
The following section offers a brief overview of key projects that the Consortium has been involved in, briefly illustrating the evolution of the Consortium, its research direction and goals, and the relationships that have been established through these projects and activities.
Five-Year
SAFE Project Evaluation Plan (
The SAFE Coalition of Cedar Rapids began its work in 1989 as a community mobilization program. The Consortium assisted in the grassroots development of the SAFE Coalition whose original mission was to create a community that demands a substance abuse free environment. Its prime goal was to reduce alcohol and other drug use by youth, adults, special populations, and employees. The Coalition implemented its goals and objectives through a task force and committee structure that included a Business Task Force, Citizens Alive Committee, Clergy Committee, Communications Committee, Community Task Force, Family Task Force, Neighbors Coalition, and Treatment Task force. Each of these committees initiated multiple prevention activities aimed at specific target populations.
This
project evaluated the effectiveness of the substance abuse treatment program at
During
1993-1995, IDPH contracted with the Consortium to evaluate a substance abuse
case management pilot project implemented by the Department in Polk and
The Consortium evaluated the effectiveness of the Talking About Alcohol-Driving Unimpaired curriculum purchased by IDOE from the Prevention Research Institute of Lexington, KY, a private, non-profit corporation that developed the Risk Reduction Model of Prevention in the early 1980’s and has developed a series of risk reduction programs for populations at various school levels and court referrals, particularly driving under the influence.
Drunk Driver Education Analysis (Iowa Department of Education) 5/98-6/98
This
analysis is a re-evaluation of the state of
Women’s
Innovative
in the field of substance abuse treatment, the Heart of Iowa Mother and
Violator
Program Evaluation at
This project involved a four-year evaluation funded in part by GASA. Initially established at two institutional sites, Newton and Mitchellville prisons, the Violator Program employs a cognitive approach aimed at changing thinking styles that result in sub-optimal choices (such as criminal behavior).
Substance Abuse Reporting System Study (SAMHSA) 10/94-9/95
IDPH
and the Consortium conducted an analysis of client baseline data from the State
of
Managed Care Evaluation (IDPH), 6/96-5/97
This evaluation assessed the impact of a relatively unique model for managing substance abuse and mental health treatment after the first year of implementation. The design of the study had three components: analysis of changes in the accessibility of treatment, the process of treatment, and the immediate outcomes of treatment. Utilization rates and appropriateness review were used to assess changes in accessibility of services. Changes in the quantities of care received were also being examined to evaluate treatment patterns. Additionally, client satisfaction and completion rates were used to assess outcomes of treatment, and provider feedback was used to qualitatively assess the impact of the program on access, process, and outcomes.
Treatment
Evaluation (House of Mercy) 1995-1997
This project was an outcome and process evaluation of the four programs at the House of Mercy Treatment Center in Des Monies, IA. The four HOM programs include treatment for: women who are pregnant and or/ parenting; women who are homeless; and teens who are pregnant and have children. The sample included women from each program interviewed at intake, discharge and follow-up stages.
Prevention Needs Assessment (CSAP) 7/95-6/97
The
focus of this project was to develop a needs assessment project focused on
prevention. The goals of the Iowa State
Prevention Needs Assessment Project were to: a) develop a set of reliable and
valid indicators of risk/protective, asset/deficit, and resource factors to
guide the state’s comprehensive prevention service needs and planning efforts;
and b) apply these data to the development of a service needs assessment model
that builds upon the groundwork laid by CSAP.
Study components include a statewide telephone household survey,
separate “model” comprehensive studies in three
East
Central Iowa SAFE Evaluation (
The Iowa Consortium, in cooperation with the CR SAFE committee developed a six-month contract to initiate the ECI SAFE Evaluation and to support the activities necessary to lay the foundation for a meaningful evaluation of process and outcomes for the new, expanded Coalition.
The Iowa State Treatment Needs Assessment Project involved an integrated approach to assessing the need for substance abuse treatment services statewide. The mixed model approach involved the implementation of four studies: 1) An adult household survey, 2) A cost effectiveness study; 3) A study of high-risk youth; and 4) An indirect public record indicators study. The three-year project involved multiple researchers, institutions, state agencies, and service agencies.
Adult
Household Survey
The purpose of the Adult Household Survey was to: 1) Add a trend analysis to the State's previous treatment needs assessment results (1993); and 2) Strengthen the State's substance abuse treatment needs database by improving the measurement of substance use and dependency rates in Iowa. The objectives were to: provide more comprehensive geographic and sociodemographic breakdowns of substance abuse prevalence rates; introduce "levels of care" as a significant dimension in defining treatment needs; provide more detailed information regarding the barriers to treatment exposure; and upgrade the questionnaire to meet current CSAT National Technical Center (NTC) recommendations.
Cost
Effectiveness Study
The
Iowa Cost Effectiveness Study was modeled after the work of Michael Finigan Ph.D., author of "Societal Outcomes and Cost
Savings of Drug and Alcohol Treatment in the State of
Alternative
School Study (High Risk Youth Study)
The purpose of the Alternative School Study was to
provide an estimate of the substance use prevalence rates in a high risk,
juvenile population in
Social
Indicators Study
The
needs assessment Social Indicators Study collected public record data regarding
mortality, hospital discharges, law enforcement, automobile accidents, tobacco
and alcohol sales, family abuse, and infectious diseases from a variety of
agencies in the State of
Alcohol Problems & Violence Against Women (NIJ) 10/96-9/98
This
study involved an assessment of women with alcohol problems and women who
received counseling for domestic problems.
Researchers compared treatment services and examined the integration
between the two services. The sample
included over 200 women in substance abuse treatment agencies, domestic
violence shelters and safe houses across
The
Iowa Consortium for Substance Abuse Research and Evaluation, The Iowa
Department of Public Health’s Division of Substance Abuse and Health Promotion,
Iowa Department of Education, Office of Drug Control Policy (formerly GASA),
Iowa Department of Human Rights, Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning and
Statistical Analysis Center and The Higher Plain, Inc. (with funds obtained
from the Federal Department of Education), collaborated on the Iowa Statewide
Data Project to develop and implement the 1999 Iowa Youth Survey (IYS). The
1999 IYS questionnaire included questions that are relevant to positive youth
development in
Clarinda TOW Evaluation (GASA) 07/97-09/98 (NIJ) 04/99-03/01
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) awarded a two-year grant to the Consortium to continue the evaluation of the Clarinda TOW (The Other Way) program at the Clarinda Correctional Facility. The TOW evaluation addressed the following questions: 1) Does the program accomplish its stated intermediate goals (i.e. influence attitude change regarding substance use)?; 2) Are there differences between clients that completed the cognitive unit program at TOW versus the two 12-step based units?; and 3) Are certain types of clients better served by the TOW program than others?
Treatment Outcomes and Performance Pilot Studies (TOPPS) (IDPH) 10/98-09/01
The TOPPS
project award is funded by SAMHSA’s Center for
Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT). The Iowa Department of Public Health,
Division of Health Promotion, Prevention and Addictive Behaviors, and the Iowa
Consortium are working together to implement the three-year course of project
activity. Current TOPPS funding supports
four different research projects: the implementation of a computerized
instrument for assessment (in seven treatment agencies), the pilot of a
co-occurring screener, the analysis of treatment outcomes for the state’s methamphetamine
users, and the linking and analysis of various state-level data sets to the
TOPPS data set.
Targeted Capacity Expansion (IDPH) 10/99-09/01
The
TCE project is a three-year Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) grant
awarded to the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) in 1999. This grant is one of 100+ TCE grants awarded
nationwide over the past two years. The
Consortium is sub-contracted through IDPH as the grant evaluator. IDPH was awarded this grant to improve
methamphetamine treatment for adults in the
Outcomes Monitoring System Predictions Model (IDPH) 7/98-9/01
OMS, a collaborative project between the Iowa Consortium and the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), Division of Health Promotion, Prevention, and Addictive Behaviors, was designed to assess three primary treatment issues: the status of client outcomes following publicly funded treatment, the impact of different levels of care on treatment outcomes, and the costs associated with the tracking and follow-up of the state’s treatment population. In May 2000 the OMS project published its second annual report. Highlights of the report include: an overview of IDPH client tracking and follow-up procedures, comparisons between client data at admission and follow-up, and year one descriptive statistics. The OMS project has just begun its third year.
The Consortium, in conjunction with the Prairielands Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC), undertook a one-year planning and development process, for the purpose of establishing new and enhanced mechanisms for collaboration between academic researchers, policy-makers, intervention and prevention service providers, and consumers in Iowa. The goals of the project are to: a) renew and expand the Consortium network; b) conduct a formal assessment of needs and develop a three-year research plan; c) develop a structure and mechanism for collaborative technology transfer, training in the field, and an organized flow of input between practice, policy and research in deciding future research development to benefit the field of substance abuse.
Practice
Research Collaborative Implementation Phase (SAMHSA) 09/00-09/
The Iowa Practice-Research Collaborative is a statewide network of substance abuse providers, policy makers, and researchers dedicated to the implementation and sustaining of evidence-based practices into substance abuse treatment at the community level. The Iowa PRC implementation plan has two parts. The first section describes the development phase activities that resulted in the operational PRC, and the second section describes specific projects that were generated from development phase activities such as the identification and endorsement of a statewide research agenda. The implementation phase describes ten pilot studies and three knowledge application studies that address the highest priority concerns on the research agenda. The focus is on implementing integrated treatment for clients with co-occurring disorders, improving services to women and children by implementation of gender-specific treatment and evidence-based practices for children of substance abusing mothers, addressing the technical assistance and data management needs of the state, developing information systems for providers and policy makers who have very different informational needs, revising the statewide substance abuse reporting system to provide more useful and timely information to providers, policy makers, and researchers, and addressing the needs of substance abusing clients who have some involvement in the criminal justice system.
Predicting
Successful Treatment Outcomes (IDPH) 4/01-3/02
This project involves the following four major
steps: a literature review for identifying predictors and evaluating treatment
success; an analysis of existing data using state SARS data to create a
prediction/evaluation model; a review of the model with agency directors and
IDPH officials; and the development of suggestions for future data collection.
The Consortium is conducting a process and outcome
evaluation of this project that will focus on: 1) coordinating prevention
funding in the state, and 2) awarding subgrants to
Domestic Violence/Substance Abuse Staff Education Project (UNI) 10/01-9/03
The Consortium is conducting a process evaluation of this project that addresses the barriers to collaborative efforts in the provision of services between domestic violence shelter and substance abuse treatment agency staff. The goal of the project is for staff at the participating agencies to work together to develop and implement a plan for joint service provision to clients. This will be accomplished by providing training to staff in both service areas through a collaborative learning environment that focuses on mutual exchange of philosophical aspects of treatment approaches. Project success will be evaluated by: 1) attainment of objectives; 2) participating agency staff degree of satisfaction with educational programming; and 3) degree of positive increase in attitudes toward interagency cooperation.
Polk
The Consortium will conduct an independent evaluation
of the project that will include establishing a framework for data collection
to document the extent to which project goals and objectives are met. The
evaluation plan involves the collection of performance monitoring data using an
instrument that addresses the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA)
requirements. The State of
In conjunction with IDPH, the Consortium is conducting
a process and an outcome evaluation of this prevention project. Five
communities in
Targeted Capacity Expansion-Methamphetamine Study
(TCE) 10/1/03-9/30/04
The
TCE project is a three-year Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) grant
awarded to the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) in 2003 to enhance
methamphetamine treatment for adults in the
The
Epidemiological
Outcomes Workgroup (3/15/2006-3/14/2007), funded by IDPH through SAMHSA,
involves the development of a formal state epi
workgroup that systematically examines alcohol, tobacco and other drug-related
data to assess the prevalence of substance use, abuse, and dependence and
related problems in the State of Iowa.
The result will be an
Prevention Through Youth Mentoring and Prevention Through Youth Development (7/1/2006-6/30/2007), funded by IDPH involves two multi-site prevention programs. The Consortium provides technical assistance and training to the sites regarding instrument administration, data entry in an Internet-based software application, data download, analysis and report writing.
Prevention Data Base
Analysis, Training and Monitoring (7/1/2006-6/30/2007), funded by IDPH involves a community
prevention program that supports 28 communities. The Consortium activities involve developing pre-and post-tests; training site
staff on survey administration and data entry, monitoring programs as they
enter data into a web-based software application; and analyze data and report
on the participant outcomes related to the prevention programming.
The Iowa Drug Court
Process Evaluation (10/1/2006-9/30/2007), funded by the Iowa Department of
Human Right, Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning through the
National Institute of Justice, involves the seven communities in
The Cedar Rapids Methamphetamine Clinic (9/30/2006-9/29/2009), funded by the Area Council for Substance Abuse through SAMHSA, involves an evaluation of a methamphetamine treatment expansion project that will be implemented in Linn, Benton and Jones Counties. The evaluation will involve the collection of fidelity, process and outcome data at the local service provision level and multi county administration level to determine: the degree of adherence to best practice(s); the degree to which program implementation coincides with the work plan; whether milestones have been met and program goals and objectives achieved; and outcomes through the GPRA 6- and 12-month post baseline data.