TY - JOUR
T1 - Behavior Analysis in the War on Poverty
T2 - The Therapeutic Workplace Wage Supplement Program
AU - Subramaniam, Shrinidhi
AU - Holtyn, August F.
AU - Silverman, Kenneth
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (grant number R01 DA037314, T32 DA07209).
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.
PY - 2022/10
Y1 - 2022/10
N2 - Poverty presents a profound burden on health. Financial incentives can shape behavior to benefit individuals living in poverty and to benefit society. As current research shows, large-scale wage supplement programs (i.e., those that provide cash assistance for working) can sometimes increase employment, but tend not to address health problems like addiction. As proof of concept, the Therapeutic Workplace intervention treated addiction, increased employment, and reduced poverty in adults with long-term unemployment and opioid use disorder. The Therapeutic Workplace also developed academic skills, encouraged job readiness, enhanced engagement with employment services, and improved mood and quality of life. Granted, in this and similar trials, some participants did not become employed and many relapsed to drug use or were unemployed after the intervention ended. Continued battles in the war on poverty include identifying evidence-based methods to promote steady employment in high-wage jobs and maintaining positive health outcomes long term.
AB - Poverty presents a profound burden on health. Financial incentives can shape behavior to benefit individuals living in poverty and to benefit society. As current research shows, large-scale wage supplement programs (i.e., those that provide cash assistance for working) can sometimes increase employment, but tend not to address health problems like addiction. As proof of concept, the Therapeutic Workplace intervention treated addiction, increased employment, and reduced poverty in adults with long-term unemployment and opioid use disorder. The Therapeutic Workplace also developed academic skills, encouraged job readiness, enhanced engagement with employment services, and improved mood and quality of life. Granted, in this and similar trials, some participants did not become employed and many relapsed to drug use or were unemployed after the intervention ended. Continued battles in the war on poverty include identifying evidence-based methods to promote steady employment in high-wage jobs and maintaining positive health outcomes long term.
KW - abstinence reinforcement
KW - conditional cash transfer
KW - contingency management
KW - motivational incentives
KW - supported employment
KW - vocational services
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U2 - 10.1177/23727322221119990
DO - 10.1177/23727322221119990
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85138719085
SN - 2372-7322
VL - 9
SP - 179
EP - 187
JO - Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences
JF - Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences
IS - 2
ER -