Employment Services Utilization and Outcomes among Substance Abusing Offenders Participating in California’s Proposition 36 Drug Treatment Initiative

California drug treatment programs may use funds to address barriers to work faced by Proposition 36 offenders, most of whom are not working at treatment entry, but employment services utilization and related behavioral outcomes have never been studied. This study examined primary data collected on 1,453 offenders by 30 programs during 2004 to explore the characteristics, employment services utilization, and outcomes of those who did and did not receive employment services while in drug treatment. One-year outcomes were mostly similar across groups, however, increases in the proportion of offenders employed, receiving income from employment and family or friends, and being paid for work were significantly greater among the received-employment-services group, and a greater proportion of this group also completed drug treatment. Employment services utilization was less likely for persons recruited from outpatient settings and more likely with greater severity of family/social problems and desire for services. Odds of employment one-year post-treatment entry were higher for those of Hispanic race/ethnicity (vs. White) and for those with treatment completion/longer retention but lower for those who were older, lived in specific counties, had greater employment problem severity at intake, and received other income-related services. Strategies for improving employment services utilization and outcomes among Proposition 36 offenders are discussed

Comparative Geochemistries of Pd\u3csup\u3eII\u3c/sup\u3e and Pt\u3csup\u3eII\u3c/sup\u3e:: Formation of Mixed Hydroxychloro and Chlorocarbonato-complexes in Seawater

Comparative observations of PdII and PtII hydrolysis in chloride solutions indicate that [PdCl3OH2−]/[PdCl42−] and [PtCl3OH2−]/[PtCl42−] concentration ratios in salinity 35 seawater (S = 35) are smaller than one at a typical surface ocean pH (∼8.2), and are larger than one at pH = 8.2 when S \u3c 10. The hydrolysis behaviors of PdCl42− and PtCl42− are very similar. In 0.5 M NaCl at 25°C the hydrolysis constant for both elements, written in the form β1 = [MCl3OH2−][Cl−][H+][MCl42−]−1, is logβ1*=−8.97. Between ionic strengths 0.3 M and 1.0 M for PdII and between 0.1 M and 1.0 M for PtII, log β1 is within approximately 0.1 units of the value appropriate to 0.5 M NaCl. This small dependence of PdCl42− and PtCl42− hydrolysis constants on ionic strength is consistent with predictions based on expected activity coefficient behavior. Carbonate is observed to complex PdCl42− significantly, but to a smaller extent than OH− under conditions appropriate to seawater. Complexation of PtCl42− by CO32− was observed in this work but the rate of complexation was too slow to allow equilibrium observations. The principal dissimilarity between the chemistries of PdII and PtII in our investigation was the sharp contrast in observed PdII and PtII reaction rates. Differences in reaction kinetics may cause fractionation of PdII and PtII in the environment. The speciation of PtII, unlike PdII, is likely to be based on chemical environments experienced by PtII over a period of days, and perhaps weeks