EFFECT OF JOB SKILLS TRAINING ON EMPLOYMENT AND JOB SEEKING BEHAVIORS IN A NATIVE AMERICAN SUBSTA NCE ABUSE TREATMENT SAMPLE

Employment difficulties are common among individuals receiving substance abuse treatment, and employment is an important treatment outcome as well as a predictor of success in other areas such as decreasing problematic substance use. Unemployment problems are often particularly significant in Native American communities (Reynolds, Fisher, Estrada, & Trotter, 2000). To address this problem, the Southwest Node of the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA’s) Clinical Trials Network (CTN) conducted a single-site adaptation of its national Job Seekers Workshop study (Svikis, P.I.) in a Native American treatment program, the Na’Nizhoozhi Center (NCI). The program targets skills needed to find and secure a job, as well as vocational goal setting and methods for locating available employment. Here we report primary results for employment outcomes.