RRTC on Substance Abuse, Disability and Employment
PI: Dennis Moore, EdD

Dennis Moore, EdD, of the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Substance Abuse, Disability and Employment at the Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, had already developed, validated and implemented a substance abuse screener specifically for persons with disabilities who are seeking employment through vocational rehabilitation. His RUA funding will "scale-up" use of this screening tool, known as the Substance Abuse in Vocational Rehabilitation - Screener "SAVR-S", from its current roll-out in Illinois, Ohio and West Virginia statewide VR systems to include those of Kentucky, Utah and Virginia. The project evaluates its "train-the-trainer" approach as well as the increased use of video in the training materials.

Dr. Moore outlines his RUA's scope-of-work in his RUA proposal. Read about the progress of the work in this RUA's first interim report, submitted in June 2007, with updates in the second interim report, submitted at the end of August 2007, and the December 2007, third interim report. The April 2008 report describes their efforts to have the SAVR-S administered consistently across all the participating states. An outline of the measures Moore's team will use to evaluate outcomes and user satisfaction was also appended. VR counselors take a pre-test that measures their knowledge, attitudes and behaviors regarding substance abuse screening, followed up with a post-test. Another instrument measures their satisfaction (text version) with using the SAVR-S. Consumers who take the SAVR-S are also surveyed about their opinions of the screening procedure and how VR staff introduced it.