CHPPR investigators awarded grant to open and evaluate NARR-certified recovery residences

CHPPR investigators recently received over $900,000 in funding for the Housing for Opioid MAT Expanded Services project (Project HOMES). Through Project HOMES, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) will collaborate with multiple community partners, including a State of Texas National Association for Recovery Residences (NARR) affiliate, to open and evaluate 13 Level II or III NARR-certified recovery residences throughout Texas for persons using medication assisted treatment (MAT) as part of their recovery plan. Drs. Johnny Wilkerson and Sheryl McCurdy (Co-PIs), along with Drs. Henry (Shelton) Brown, III, Cecilia M. Ganduglia Cazaban, Trudy Krause and James Yang (co-investigators) anticipate opening residences in Austin, Houston, El Paso, and San Angelo and will provide technical assistance, certification, and auditing of residences to ensure compliance with NARR standards. We will collect qualitative and quantitative data to evaluate the recovery residences. The team will also conduct a cost-benefit analysis to determine the net benefit of recovery residences to society. Additionally, the team will create a recovery residence database to: examine trends in substance use and comorbid health outcomes; identify variables associated with more positive health outcomes; inform decision making about co-occurring health conditions for persons recovering from opioid use; better identify programming priorities; and respond to requests for information from community and governmental agencies at the state and local levels.