Michael Shafer

Arizona State University | ASU · School of Social Work

This study examines the demographic, clinical, and criminal characteristics of ninety-nine felony defendants in a primarily rural county in Arizona who were referred for clinical evaluation for competency to stand trial. Ninety-two of these people had their competency status adjudicated during the time period relevant to the study, sixty of whom we...

Change is a constant feature of organizing and one that requires resilience, or the ability to effectively face challenges. Although research demonstrates important findings about resilience during chaotic change like crises, less is known about resilience in mundane situations like planned change. This study explores team-driven planned organizati...

For individuals with a mental illness who are admitted for inpatient psychiatric treatment, their ability to exercise their patient rights may often be compromised by a variety of factors. Typically, such hospitalizations occur at times when individuals are acutely ill and highly symptomatic and often against the wishes of the patient. During an in...

Although research indicates that organizational characteristics substantially influence the adoption and use of evidence-based practices (EBPs), there has been little empirical research on organizational factors most likely to influence successful implementation of EBPs, particularly in criminal justice settings. This study examined organizational...

Because weak interagency coordination between community correctional agencies (e.g., probation and parole) and community-based treatment providers has been identified as a major barrier to the use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) for treating drug-involved offenders, this study sought to examine how key organizational (e.g., leadership, support,...

This chapter examines knowledge and skills that forensic social workers employ when helping divert special need offenders from the criminal justice process. Cases are used to illustrate the types of offenders most likely to benefit from pre and post booking diversion schemes. They are also used to clarify the diverse roles played by forensic social...

There is a limited, but growing body of research on the effectiveness of peer recovery coaches in promoting treatment engagement, retention, and completion among child welfare-involved parents with substance use disorders. A quasi-experimental design was employed using propensity score matching to examine treatment engagement and treatment completi...

The purpose of this investigation is to determine if the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and theory of planned behavior (TPB) can retrospectively predict whether or not substance-abuse treatment providers encourage their clients to use medicated-assisted treatment (MAT) as part of their treatment plan. Two-hundred and ten substance-abuse treatment...

Objectives: We tested a modified Network for the Improvement of Addiction Treatment (NIATx) process improvement model to implement improved HIV services (prevention, testing, and linkage to treatment) for offenders under correctional supervision. Methods: As part of the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies, Phase 2, the HIV Services and...

The Organizational Process Improvement Intervention (OPII), conducted by the NIDA-funded Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies consortium of nine research centers, examined an organizational intervention to improve the processes used in correctional settings to assess substance abusing offenders, develop case plans, transfer this informatio...

Individuals who are chronically homeless have significantly higher rates of morbidity at significantly younger ages because they experience homelessness, physical and mental health impairments, and substance use disorders. The health status and health service utilization of 260 unsheltered, chronically homeless individuals in a large southwestern,...

Consumer operated services and programs (COSPs) represent a growing and central component of community mental health services. COSPs provide a low cost, low demand, and welcoming entry point to mental health treatment for many individuals newly diagnosed with a mental illness. These programs provide ongoing psycho-education and supportive services...

This presentation will describe a unique community development partnership between the owners, managers, and tenants of a large urban subsidized housing property and a local university. The findings of a mixed-methods assets and needs assessment, designed and implemented by university faculty and students, provided an in-depth portrayal of the heal...

In this study, we examined metaphors invoked by people recovering from opioid dependence as they described the challenges and successes of using medication-assisted treatment. Metaphors provide linguistic tools for expressing issues that are confusing, complex, hidden, and difficult to state analytically or literally. Using data from eight focus gr...

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a local initiative, Project H3, which used housing first, harm reduction, and peer support models to provide housing for 47 homeless people who were medically vulnerable. Method: Comparisons of interviews with participants who were housed at the day of their move-in, and 6-months a...

Mothers are one of the fastest growing segments of the homeless population in the United States. Although mental health problems often contribute to homelessness, little is known about the factors that affect mothers' mental health. To help identify protective factors, this longitudinal study examined the relationship between spirituality and menta...

Past research has focused on the intertwined relationship between homelessness, mental illness, and criminal justice. Although a well-established correlation between mental illness and homelessness has emerged, a better understanding of how this may be mediated by other prominent risk factors such as substance use or victimization is warranted. The...

Although methamphetamine use has been declining, it continues to be problematic among parents in the child welfare system. We examined the assertion that parental methamphetamine use is more detrimental for children than abuse of other substances. Using administrative data (N = 2,465) from a treatment program, we compared parents reporting abuse of...

Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is underutilized in the treatment of drug-dependent, criminal justice populations. This study surveyed criminal justice agencies affiliated with the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ-DATS) to assess use of MAT and factors influencing use of MAT. A convenience sample (N = 50) of criminal justice ag...

Abuse and trauma are common in the histories of prison inmates. This article presents the results of research on the trauma histories and stressful life events experienced by 2,279 male and female inmate parents in Arizona, with a particular focus on gender and ethnic differences across inmates. A sample of 838 incarcerated fathers and 1,441 mother...

Substance abuse is increasingly common in prison inmates. This article presents findings on substance abuse and service needs of male and female inmate parents in Arizona, with a particular focus on gender and ethnic differences across inmates. A sample of 838 incarcerated fathers and 1,441 mothers completed anonymous questionnaires regarding traum...

This article summarizes the published results of the Employment Intervention Demonstration Program (EIDP), a federally-funded, multi-site study examining the effectiveness of supported employment programs for 1273 unemployed individuals with psychiatric disabilities in the U.S. Findings confirm the effectiveness of supported employment across diffe...

The University of Cincinnati began a conversation in the fall of 2006 with two area all girls' schools with the hope of providing these students the opportunity to become better informed regarding engineering and technology. Working with Mount Notre Dame High School and Mother of Mercy High School, the team first defined a program then developed th...

The University of Cincinnati collaborated with four Cincinnati-area high schools (Mt Notre Dame High School, Princeton High School, Mother of Mercy High School, and Harrison High School) to develop and offer a program that introduced students at those schools to the practice of Engineering and Engineering Technology. The College of Applied Science...

Effects of co-occurring disorders on work outcomes were explored among individuals with severe mental illness who were participating in a multisite randomized study of supported employment. At seven sites, 1,273 people were randomly assigned to an experimental supported employment program or a control condition and followed for 2 years. Multivariat...

The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 removes work disincentives and promotes access to vocational services for people with disabilities. This study calculated the amount of payments that would have been made to employment service providers if study participants had been enrolled in the Ticket program. Data were from 450 So...

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of local unemployment rates on evidence-based supported employment (SE) programs tailored for people with psychiatric disabilities. Participants (n = 1, 273) from 7 states in the US were randomly assigned to experimental SE or services as usual/comparison conditions and followed for 24 months. Mi...

Research has shown that supported employment programs are effective in helping psychiatric outpatients achieve vocational outcomes, yet not all program participants are able to realize their employment goals. This study used 24 months of longitudinal data from a multisite study of supported employment interventions to examine the relationship of pa...

Few studies have sought to determine which specific supported employment services improve employment outcomes for people with pyschiatric disabilities. This study examined the effects of job development and job support among other services on acquisition and retention of competitive employment. Data used in the analysis came from seven sites of the...

Although large-scale surveys indicate that patients with severe mental illness want to work, their unemployment rate is three to five times that of the general adult population. This multisite, randomized implementation effectiveness trial examined the impact of highly integrated psychiatric and vocational rehabilitation services on the likelihood...

National probability surveys indicate that most individuals with schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses are not employed. This multisite study tested the effectiveness of supported employment (SE) models combining clinical and vocational rehabilitation services to establish competitive employment. We randomly assigned 1273 outpatients with...

For persons with co-occurring disorders, interaction with criminal justice systems is a frequent occurrence. As a result, a variety of diversionary programs have been developed nationwide. In this study, a total of 248 individuals with co-occurring disorders of serious mental illness and substance use disorders who had been arrested and booked on m...

This study evaluated the effectiveness of distance education for training behavioral health professionals. Five live video workshops that covered key elements of Motivational Interviewing (MI) were delivered. The programs occurred a month apart, each 3 hours long. The programs used compressed video, transmitting the video signal through telephone l...

Eight programs are described representing a variety of approaches to diversion in terms of point of criminal justice intervention (prebooking or postbooking), degree of criminal justice coercion, type of linkages provided to community-based treatment, and approaches to treatment retention. The authors also describe the characteristics of almost 100...

This paper presents a rationale for the use of a distance education approach in the clinical training of community substance abuse treatment providers. Developing and testing new approaches to the clinical training and supervision of providers is important in the substance abuse treatment field where new information is always available. A cognitive...

Supported education programs provide support and services so people with a major mental illness can begin or continue postsecondary education. 124 students from three supported education sites were surveyed for five semesters to assess demographic and service utilization information, education and employment outcomes, predictors of school completio...

This article summarizes the results of a survey of 395 mental health and vocational rehabilitation professionals in a 6-state western region of the US. The purpose of the survey was to assess the training needs of these personnel in order to develop needs-responsive training to be provided under the auspices of a recently funded federal grant. Resp...

Increasingly, local community mental health and rehabilitation agencies are being called upon to provide documentation of the services they provide and their resulting outcomes on mental health consumers. Unfortunately, many local agencies lack the resources, finances, or expertise to fully utilize computer technology for developing outcome and uti...

Providing students with disabilities with a smooth and effective transition from school to work and adult living has become a major priority of this country. As currently conceived, transition implicitly assumes that youth with disabilities will become employed or seek additional education, move away from their parent’s domicile, and engage in othe...

Results of a 24-month analysis of employment retention and replacement needs of a sample of 302 individuals placed into supported employment were reported. Supported employees experienced regular movement in and out of the labor market. Approximately 30% of them were still employed in their original employment situation 24 months following initial...

Results from a three-year analysis of supported employment implementation are presented. These data are presented to provide a descriptive summary of the extent and nature to which states have developed and implemented programs of supported employment. Information is presented regarding state policies and procedures associated with supported employ...

A national three-year longitudinal study of supported employment is reported. This study surveyed state agencies involved with vocational rehabilitation, mental retardation/developmental disabilities, and mental health as well as other pertinent state agencies to assess the extent and nature of supported employment services. The results of this sur...

A survey of 27 states receiving federal supported employment grants was conducted. Results indicated that the number of participating individuals increased 157% during the 3-year study period. Further, over 1,400 programs of supported employment were authorized by state agencies during this time. Individual placement options remained prevalent and...

Presents national survey of state agency vocational rehabilitation counselors (N=790) to assess the effect of federally funded statewide supported employment implementation grants by evaluating counselors' knowledge and use of supported employment. Found use of federal discretionary awards have been effective in enhancing counselors' access to info...

Supported employment for persons with developmental and other severe disabilities has moved rapidly from university-based demonstration projects to the development of comprehensive statewide services delivery systems. This article reports the results of a survey of 27 states that received major systems change grants from the Rehabilitation Services...

A survey was administered to 212 co-workers of supported employees with mental retardation. The purpose of the survey was to assess the perceptions and experiences of nondisabled employees with co-workers with mental retardation. Results suggest that contact in the workplace does not significantly affect the attitudes of nondisabled employees regar...

A critical component of supported competitive employment is the provision of long-term consumer assessment and systematic follow-along services. To date, there is a paucity of information that describes or validates the process of ongoing consumer assessment. In this article, written employer evaluations of workers with mental retardation were anal...

The results of a survey of three groups of employers (employers of workers with mental retardation who received (a) supported competitive employment services, (b) only job placement services, or no known services) in Virginia were reported. Employers were generally satisfied with the performance of workers with mental retardation, but they were mor...

A review of the literature on unemployment rates among adults with mental retardation is presented and the societal impact of the number of adults with mental retardation who remain unemployed is discussed. The supported competitive employment model is presented as illustrative of a habilitation program allowing greater monetary returns to society...

Evaluated a simulation training program to teach bank depositing skills to a 25-yr-old moderately mentally retarded male (IQ 46). Based on a task analysis of specific skills, the S was instructed to operate an automated banking machine. The skills of accessing the machine, conducting the transaction, and terminating the transaction were sequentiall...

This investigation compared the effectiveness of two strategies with respect to the receptive acquisition and generalization of prepositional concepts in four autistic children. During “position self” training, the student was instructed to place himself in a specific relation to an object; “position object” training involved the student placing an...

We evaluated the effects of a peer-training strategy, consisting of direct prompting and modeling, on the occurrence and duration of interactions between autistic students and nonautistic peer-trainers. Data were obtained in both training and generalization settings. The results of a multiple-baseline design across students demonstrated that:the di...

Two experiments are reported in which the relationship between compliance with "do" and "don't" requests was examined with developmentally disabled children. In Experiment 1, a multiple baseline design across subjects with counterbalanced treatment conditions was used to evaluate a compliance training program composed of four phases: (a) baseline,...

We evaluated theeffects ofapeer-training strategy, consisting ofdirect prompting andmodeling, ontheoccurrence andduration ofinteractions between autistic students andnonautistic peer- trainers. Datawereobtained inbothtraining andgeneralization settings. Theresults ofamultiple- baseline design across students demonstrated that: (a)thedirect promptin...