The CREST Outreach Center is a 6-month residential, community-based therapeutic community (TC) treatment and aftercare program located in Wilmington, Del., and designed for prison inmates with histories of drug abuse. The TC serves both male and female offenders and has been operating for the past 8 years. The research compared a group inmates selected to participate in the CREST Outreach Center with a group of drug-involved inmates who entered Delaware's traditional work release program. Data were collected by means of interviews conducted while the offenders were still incarcerated, as well as 6 months after entering the TC or being released from prison and 18 months after leaving prison. Successful completion of the program showed beneficial effects on standard outcomes of relapse and recidivism 18 months after release from prison, as well as with respect to employment, income, income derived from crime, and alcohol use. Participation without completion also had some benefits. A significant interactive relationship existed between employment and treatment with respect to drug use. A group with no treatment had an expected negative effect of unemployment, whereas unemployment was not associated with increased relapse for those who had participated in treatment. Participation in treatment also appeared to have a protective effect against the expected negative consequences of unemployment. Tables, figures, and 18 references