Clinical trial NCT05665179: Removing Barriers: Community Partnering for Innovative Solutions to the Opioid Crisis
Official title: Removing Barriers: Community Partnering for Innovative Solutions to the Opioid Crisis
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Opioid Use Disorder
Alcohol Use Disorder
Health Risk Behaviors
Criminal Behavior
Housing Problems
Overdose of Opiate
Lead sponsor: University of Michigan
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: U.S. National Science Foundation
First posted: 2022-12-27
Enrollment: 800
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: The opioid epidemic has become one of America's deadliest crises, surpassing car crashes, firearms, and HIV/AIDS as a leading cause of death for Americans under fifty years of age. People trying to recover from opioid-use disorder face many obstacles. Obstacles such as minor legal problems (e.g., arrest warrants for failure to pay a fine, failure to appear in court, or late child support payments) can undermine the stability needed to overcome opioid dependence. Outstanding legal obligations make it difficult to find jobs and to secure housing. They can result in removal from treatment programs as well as incarceration. Resolving these legal problems requires coordination, organization, preparation, travel, and time-expectations that may be problematic for many people in the early stages of recovery. Technology has the potential to make resolving these legal problems much easier. Online platform technology is now available that can guide people in recovery through the resolution of many legal problems at no cost and without an attorney, potentially doing so quickly, remotely, and at any time of day.

This study of individuals in treatment in Michigan tests whether resolving outstanding legal issues improves drug treatment outcomes. The research also examines whether and to what extent resolving legal issues supports family reunification, reduces future criminal behavior, and improves access to jobs and housing for clients in treatment for opioid use disorder. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) is used to determine the effects of resolving legal issues on these outcomes. For identification, the investigators leverage the random assignment of legal services to treatment center clients, along with the random assignment of clients to treatment centers by birth month. We assemble a novel longitudinal dataset of hundreds of clients in treatment for substance use disorder and link these clients to several administrative datasets and qualitative data, which allows for measurement of: (1) substance use behaviors and (2) justice-system involvement, including civil and criminal legal system encounters. This study also uses linked client and administrative data to research the population in opioid treatment centers, follow-up behaviors, and whether the consequences of providing no-cost legal services differ by client background. Findings from this research will improve America's understanding of the acute socio-legal needs faced by those experiencing opioid use disorder and provide recommendations to help target resources toward the areas that best support long-term abstinence from opioids and other drugs.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

\*Receiving substance use disorder treatment services

Exclusion Criteria:

\*Not receiving substance use disorder treatment services

Primary outcomes:
measure: Frequency of substance misuse
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Quantity of substance(s)
timeFrame: 1 year
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Frequency of substance misuse
timeFrame: 2 years
measure: Quantity of substance(s)
timeFrame: 2 years
measure: Count of justice system involvement
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Justice system involvement case type
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: Count of justice system involvement
timeFrame: 2 years
measure: Case type of justice system involvement
timeFrame: 2 years
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Ann Arbor
country: United States
facility: Home of New Vision
state: Michigan
city: Ypsilanti
country: United States
facility: Dawn Farm
state: Michigan
Study officials:
affiliation: Associate Professor
name: David Cordva, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: