A growing number of persons with opioid use disorder (OUD) are choosing medication assisted treatment (MAT), which includes methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone. While not all of those on MAT have recovery goals that align with recovery housing, but many do. The medication assisted recovery sub-population seeks and could greatly benefit from recovery housing. However, they struggle to find recovery homes that accept their applications, much less proficiently support their needs. For numerous reasons, recovery homes have historically not embraced persons on opioid agonists and other potentially addictive and diverted medications. But none of those reasons negate the fact that MAT is appropriate for some individuals seeking recovery. From its inception, recovery housing has always developed in response to the needs of the needs of a community. Today, this includes MAT. Just changing one’s screening policies is not enough. To proficiently support persons on MAT, recovery homes will need to adapt their culture, policies, procedures and programs. This is no easy task.
For those up to the task, you will find various resources below: