Welfare Reform and Housing: Assessing the Impact to Substance Abusers

Abstract

The addiction disability (Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Income program for drug abuse and alcoholism) was terminated by Congress in December 1996 as part of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA). Discussions about welfare reform policies in the latter 20th century have centered on Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) receipt by the general population. Far less attention has been paid to programs such as the addiction disability that were also affected by the PRWORA. Our purpose is to study the effect of this policy change on the housing status of former addiction disability recipients and to also explore whether and how disruptions in living situations increased risks for drug and alcohol use, criminal participation and victimization. We utilize insights from two major sociological theories of housing or homelessness, i.e., individualistic and structural, to guide our exploration of the policy's impact on housing. A qualitative analysis, featuring in-depth interviews with 101, nonrandomly selected former recipients revealed that disability benefits promoted housing autonomy, successful cohabitation, and overall housing stability. The termination of benefits, at a time of diminishing social services (e.g., cash and housing assistance) and a housing market explosion, increased various types of homelessness for respondents and dependency on family and friends. Such negative living outcomes, in turn, further escalated the risk of drug and alcohol use, criminal participation, and victimization. Individual-level factors also complicated the matter. Implications for research and policy are discussed.