Drs. Young and Chernen are active participants in these two significant California alcohol and drug treatment initiatives. The first, the System of Care Redesign (SOCR), was formulated to improve the State's substance abuse service system. It resulted from a three year study by the Managed Care Policy Advisory Committee (MCPAC) and included over 300 representatives from California's substance abuse prevention and treatment community. MCPAC was convened to provide broad-based input on how the state should improve the effectiveness and efficiency of alcohol and other drug (AOD) service delivery. The ongoing process initiated by SOCR, which includes the development of a statewide automated-outcome data monitoring system, will result in a system of care in California based upon performance and results, which will address both the individual needs of the client and assure program accountability.

CalTOP is California's CSAT-supported Treatment Outcome Pilot Projects (TOPPS-II), which is part of a 19-state consortium, designed to pilot a standardized automated data-collection system to track client movement through publicly-funded alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment systems and to determine client outcomes in terms of AOD abuse and other social service needs. The California project, with the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Program (CDADP) and UCLA's Drug Abuse Research Center as key players, consists of a comprehensive intake evaluation, during-treatment utilization data collection, treatment exit interviews, and 9 and 12 month follow-up phone contacts. The measures consist of state-of-the art AOD instrumentation, including the Addiction Severity Index-Lite, the California and National Core Outcome Questions, California's version of the American Society of Addiction Medicine's (ASAM) Patient Placement Criteria, and the MHSIP Client Satisfaction Scale. All interview data will be collected electronically and transmitted to ADP and UCLA for analysis. The goal of the TOPPs-II project is the establishment of a national initiative to assist all states in developing a standardized approach to systematically measure the performance of programs funded by Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grants (SAPTBG). Dr. Young and Mr. Lopez led the workshop which created the California Implementation of ASAM Patient Placement Criteria. Dr. Young played a significant role in the development of the application to CSAT to implement CalTOP. Drs. Young and Chernen have been consultants to CSAT as well as investigators on the TOPPS and TOPPS-II studies.