This factsheet from the National Alliance on Mental Health Minnesota provides an overview of the evidence-based practice of Integrated Dual Diagnosis Treatment (IDDT) and its use in treating individuals suffering from mental illness and struggling with substance abuse. It offers suggestions of what to look for in an IDDT program and provides a list of programs within Minnesota that offer these services.

This kit is available from The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in a DVD/CD-ROM version via post mail, or sections can be downloaded via the weblink. The kit provides practice principles about integrated treatment for co-occurring disorders, an approach that helps people recover by offering mental health and substance abuse services at the same time in one setting. Users are provided suggestions from successful programs.

This report provides the results of a large-scale national survey about the extent of substance abuse and mental health issues in the U.S. In 2012, it was found that approximately 22.2 million people over the age of 12 were dependent on a substance and the three most common substances used were marijuana, pain killers, and cocaine. This data indicated an increase in the number of people abusing pain killers from the previous year.

This document provides the findings from a six-year study conducted in New York City on the ability of substance abusing TANF participants to obtain a job and remain employed. It was found that the overwhelming majority of substance abusing participants were not exempted from work requirements due to their substance use. One quarter of participants with substance use issues found and maintained employment. Case management is touched upon as an important component to working with this hard-to-serve population.

This document offers information on substance use and co-occurring disorders through the lens of child welfare and child safety. Information on funding related to the Affordable Care Act is covered as well as understanding substance abuse data, direct practice concepts and evidence-based practices and promising interventions currently in use. State and local programs are highlighted for readers.

In Colorado, TANF provides funding to a substance abuse treatment program called New Directions for Families at the Arapahoe House treatment facility. Substance abuse intervention and transitional housing assistance is provided for mothers and their dependent children with a focus on achieving self-sufficiency. In the latter half of the program, employment is emphasized and mothers are expected to be working as they complete treatment.

Kentucky's Targeted Assessment Program (TAP) is a partnership between the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) and the University of Kentucky Center on Drug and Alcohol Research to assess and support TANF participants struggling with significant barriers to work, including substance abuse and mental health issues. The model uses specialists who administer a comprehensive assessment designed to fully capture any barriers to work and then collaborate with other systems to engage participants in evidenced based interventions. This program has been in place since 1999.

This paper reviews the literature on the policy context of the HPOG program and the challenges and opportunities related to developing healthcare occupational training and support programs. It discusses the structure of the healthcare industry and trends in healthcare employment, implications of ACA for entry-level employment in healthcare, and resulting challenges and opportunities for training programs. (author overview)

The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness recently released a fact sheet on preventing and addressing tuberculosis among people experiencing homelessness. According to the authors, ttuberculosis is a serious health concern for people experiencing homelessness and those working with homeless populations. The authors noted that tuberculosis rates are ten times higher for people experiencing homelessness, and of the patients involved in tuberculosis outbreaks investigated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2010 – 2012, over half did not have a place to call home.

Many TANF staff are unfamiliar with the SSI Program but want to learn more. This brief describes the basic SSI disability determination process and compares and contrasts it with several procedures different TANF agencies use to identify recipients who meet TANF work-limitation criteria in states or localities. It goes on to discuss topics including different strategies TANF agencies use to assess which individuals are most likely to qualify for SSI. (author abstract)