This article examines the effectiveness of quarterly Recovery Management Checkups (RMCs) for people with substance disorders by level of co-occurring mental disorders (34% none, 27% internalizing disorders, and 39% internalizing and externalizing) across two randomized experiments with 92% to 97% follow-up. The 865 participants are 82% African American, 53% female, and age 37 on average. RMC involves identification of those in need of treatment, motivational interviews, and treatment linkage assistance. It is effective in linking participants in need to treatment, with equal or better outcomes among those with more mental disorders. The data support the utility of monitoring and re-intervention for clients with co-occurring disorders.Keywords co-occurring disorders; recovery management; substance abuse treatment outcome Given that substance use disorders are often chronic conditions that may last decades, it is hardly surprising that it takes an average of three to four admissions to treatment for 9 years to reach a sustained recovery Dennis et al. 2005;Grella and Joshi 1999;Hser et al. 1997;Hser et al. 1998). In recognition of these findings and other Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Please address correspondence to Brian R. Rush, Center for Addiction and Mental Health, Room T304, 33 Russell St., Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2S1 Canada; phone: (416) 535-8501 (ext. 6625); brian_rush@camh.net. Questions about the Recovery Management Checkup intervention can be addressed to Christy K. Scott, Chestnut Health Systems, 221 W. Walton, Chicago, IL 60610; phone: (312) 664-4321; fax: (312) 664-4324; cscott@chestnut.org. Questions about the broader early re-intervention studies can be addressed to Michael L. Dennis, Chestnut Health Systems, 720 West Chestnut, Bloomington, IL 61701; mdennis@chestnut.org. Matzger, and Kaskutas 2003). This public health approach to longitudinal monitoring and early re-intervention (ERI) provides the foundation for Recovery Management Checkups (RMCs; Scott and Dennis 2003), an evidence-based approach for managing substance users through multiple episodes of treatment. The RMC intervention targets individuals who have previously participated in treatment and are now living in the community using substances. The intervention (described in more detail later) aims to provide immediate linkage back to substance abuse treatment on the basis of need, thus expediting the recovery process. Key components include, for example, assessing eligibility for the intervention and need for treatment, transferring participants in need of treatment from the interviewer to a linkage manager for a brief intervention, linking participants to the intake assessment, and ultimately linking participants to treatment. The intervention does not target or address concurrent disorders specifically. In two closely related experiments (Dennis, Scott, and Funk 2003; Scott and Dennis under review), participants randomly assigned to RMC or a control group were just as likely to be in need of treat...