Removing Barriers: Community Partnering for Innovative Solutions to the Opioid Crisis
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Removing Barriers to Recovery.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Opioid Use Disorder, Alcohol Use Disorder, Health Risk Behaviors, Criminal Behavior. Basic parameters: from 18 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- United States
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
Unsure about the terms? Read our patient guide →
Overview
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.
Interventions
- Behavioral Removing Barriers to Recovery
Experimental patients are provided no-cost legal services in-person at addiction treatment centers using an online platform
Primary outcome measures
- Frequency of substance misuse [Time frame: 1 year]
- Quantity of substance(s) [Time frame: 1 year]
Secondary outcome measures (6)
- Frequency of substance misuse [Time frame: 2 years]
- Quantity of substance(s) [Time frame: 2 years]
- Count of justice system involvement [Time frame: 1 year]
- Justice system involvement case type [Time frame: 1 year]
- Count of justice system involvement [Time frame: 2 years]
- Case type of justice system involvement [Time frame: 2 years]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
\*Receiving substance use disorder treatment services
Exclusion criteria
\*Not receiving substance use disorder treatment services
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Single blind
- Primary purpose
- Supportive care
Study locations
United States · 2 centers
- Home of New Vision — Ann Arbor
- Dawn Farm — Ypsilanti
Publications
- O'Neil MM, Johnson RA, Cordova D, Pryor J, Pinals DA. A legal dispute resolution intervention for patients with substance use disorders: a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. BMC Public Health. 2023 Mar 6;23(1):435. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-15296-5. PMID 36879259
Identifiers
NCT: NCT05665179 · HUM00152102