For Immediate Release

Baltimore, MD - September 2004 -- Optimal Solutions Group (Optimal) wins a follow-up contract to conduct Phase II of the Drug Testing Algorithm project for the Court Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA).

The large number of offenders with substance abuse problems has created overwhelming pressure on the justice system, which has limited drug-testing capacity. To use drug testing efficiently as well as effectively, the CSOSA contracted with the Optimal to develop an algorithm that assessed the offenders' probabilities of using drugs. During the first phase of the project, we were able to:

• Calculate the average length of first drug spells by type of drug; " Develop an algorithm that predicts the probability of using any drug and poly drug use with demographic characteristics, criminal background, and past drug test results
• Develop an algorithm that predicts the probabilities of using different types of drug with demographic characteristics, criminal background, and baseline drug use
• Assess the impact of using different types of drug at the baseline on future drug-testing results

Building on the results from Phase I, the objective of Phase II is to accomplish the following goals:

1. Validating the models developed in Phase I using drug testing data of a second cohort of offenders
2. Preparing a paper reporting the results thus far for publication and presenting these results at a national research conference
3. Developing an evaluation plan to assess the impact of drug testing frequencies on drug testing outcomes.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Optimal has served the needs of numerous governmental and commercial clients, including federal and state agencies, community-based organizations, business associations, and law firms.

For more information, contact Mark Turner, 443.451.7060 or mturner@optimalsolutionsgroup.com.