Reducing Offenders' HIV Risk: MI Enhanced Case Management With Drug-Free Housing

This study is based on the premise that probationers and parolees must have access to stable, drug-free housing to reduce HIV risk, access needed services and avoid rearrests and reincarceration. Drug-free housing at the Sober Living Network (SLN) in California are being studied as a way to provide a positive living environment for probationers and parolees. The houses use a sober living house (SLH) model of recovery that includes a communal recovery environment, abstinence from drugs and alcohol, peer support, and encouragement to attend self-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous.

The proposed study will improve SLHs for offenders by adding a Motivational Interviewing Case Management (MICM) intervention specifically targeted to the problems presented by each offender. The list of potential problems that MICM can address is extensive: 1) adapting to the SLH environment, 2) complying with parole and probation, 3) finding and maintain work, 4) successfully accessing and maintaining retention in services, 5) addressing HIV risk, testing and treatment, 6) mobilizing personal and informal resources, and 7) managing setbacks (e.g., relapse, loss of housing, loss of work).

Men and women involved with the criminal justice system (N=330) entering SLHs will be assigned to a condition consisting of a provision of a resources manual where residents can seek help for a variety of problems (a control group) or the MICM (intervention).To avoid mixing individuals who receive the intervention with individuals who do not within the same house, houses are randomized at the house level. Once a house is randomized to a study condition, all of the individuals recruited from that house receive the same intervention, MICM or SLH as usual. To avoid contamination of study conditions by gender, randomization procedures are stratified by houses for men, women, and both genders. Research interviews are conducted at baseline (within one month of entering the houses), 6 months, and 12 months. Follow-up interviews are conducted whether or not the participant leaves the SLH and at a site that is the most comfortable for the participant.

Inclusion criteria

• Be 18 years or older
• Speak English
• Entered the sober living house in the last month
• Able to provide contact info for followups
• Willing to attend MICM sessions
• On probation or parole
• ONE of the following: tested positive for HIV, injected drugs, sex work history, men who have sex with men (MSM), or women who have had unprotected sex in the last month with multiple partners

Exclusion criteria

• serious mental health disorder that would hinder their ability to provide informed consent or otherwise participate