Do Federal Grants for Medication-Assisted Opioid Treatment Reduce Homelessness?. Issue 1 (September 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sullivan, Andrew; Park, Changwe
• Other Names: Darolia Rajeev guest-editor.; Heflin Colleen guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Volume 703:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 285
• Page End: 302
• Publication Date: 2022-09
• Subjects: medication-assisted treatment -- homelessness -- opioid use disorder -- interaction weighted estimator -- continuums of care; Social sciences -- Periodicals; Social sciences -- United States -- Periodicals; Political science -- Periodicals; United States -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; 300
• DOI: 10.1177/00027162231156291
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0002-7162

Abstract

The federal government awarded $115 million to local entities between 2015 and 2018 for medication-assisted treatment (MAT) programs to treat opioid use disorder. These programs integrate the use of medications with counseling and behavioral therapies to reduce withdrawal symptoms and other adverse, individual-level effects of opioid misuse. Mounting evidence shows the benefits of MAT interventions among individuals, but little is known of whether these programs have prosocial, community-level effects. We examine the effect of MAT programs on one such community-level outcome: homelessness. Our event study design shows that MAT grants did not have a discernable relationship to homelessness at the community level; and we argue that while MAT may be an effective approach to treating opioid use disorder among individuals, more must be done to scale up its effects of these programs on community-level outcomes like homelessness.