Programs that combine employment services with substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery services have faced unprecedented challenges in the COVID-19 pandemic, including increased substance misuse and overdose, dramatic increases in unemployment, and the need to quickly shift to virtual service provision.

In partnership, MDRC, Abt Associates, and MEF Associates learned how some of these SUD treatment programs adapted their services early in the pandemic in response to these challenges [ link to the brief]. MDRC recently released a brief on responses to COVID-19 by seven SUD treatment programs across the country. The brief was written as part of the Building Evidence on Employment Strategies Project, or BEES, funded by the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with researchers Karin Martinson from Abt Associates and Susan Scrivener from MDRC about the key findings from the brief. They are joined by Matthew Brown, Senior Vice President of Administration at Addiction Recovery Care (ARC), one of the programs participating in the BEES study.