9 - The Association between Transitional Housing Programs and Successful Treatment Completion among a Sample of Nevadans in Substance Use Disorder Treatment

Abstract Information:

Introduction: Substance use disorders (SUDs), such as opioid use disorder and stimulant use disorder, remain prevalent across the United States. There are many evidence-based treatment and recovery services available for those with SUDs, but effectiveness of these services can be dependent on various factors. Current literature has shown one such factor to be homelessness. People experiencing homelessness (PEH) have less access to evidence-based SUD services and require more targeted programs to improve engagement and retention in said services. Recently, housing support programs (as an addition to SUD services) have proven to be helpful for this population. However, limited research has compared differences in outcomes between those that did utilize a supportive housing program and those that did not. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between transitional housing programs and successful treatment completion in order to evaluate the impact these programs have on people enrolled in SUD treatment in Nevada. Transitional housing is a type of supportive housing program that provides temporary housing, supervision, and support for clients as they transition to permanent and affordable living arrangements.

Methods: Data were collected from September 2019 to January 2023 as part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) State Opioid Response (SOR) grants, which provides funding for several SUD treatment and recovery services in Nevada. The sample was restricted to clients with histories of SUDs, that enrolled in SUD outpatient treatment, and that completed client outcome measures tools at both their intake into treatment and their discharge from treatment (N=824). The sample was then split into two groups: those that received outpatient and those that received outpatient plus transitional housing. Additional data used from the client outcome measures tool included demographic characteristics (i.e. gender, age, and race/ethnicity) and discharge status (successful treatment completion or unsuccessful treatment completion). Binary logistic regression was conducted to estimate the association between transitional housing programs and successful treatment completion while controlling for demographic characteristics.

Results: 74.2% of clients (n=611) were not in a transitional housing program as part of their SUD treatment and 70.9% (n=584) did not successfully complete treatment. The statistically significant findings suggest those that were in transitional housing programs had well over three times higher odds of successful treatment completion compared to those that were not in transitional housing programs. (AOR: 3.72, 95% CI: 2.56-5.42).

Conclusion: This study shows a large percentage of those seeking SUD treatment in Nevada do not have the option of a transitional housing program. It also provides evidence that clients not in transitional housing programs are not utilizing SUD services as successfully as their counterparts that are in transitional housing programs. These findings support previous research suggesting that additional supportive housing programs could improve treatment outcomes among the SUD population as a whole. They highlight a need for increased access and expansion of these programs which can be accomplished through delegation of additional funds from funding streams (i.e. SAMHSA’s SOR grants).