Abstinence-Contingent Wage Supplements for Alcohol Use was designed to promote alcohol abstinence and employment among adults experiencing homelessness and alcohol use disorder by providing financial incentives dependent on verified abstinence. During the six-month program period, unemployed participants could earn up to 20 hours per week of wages for engaging in job-seeking activities with an employment specialist, at $10 per hour. Employed participants could receive wage supplements for verified hours worked, capped at $8 per hour for up to 40 hours per week. These payments were contingent upon maintaining alcohol abstinence, which was verified through wearable transdermal alcohol concentration (TAC) biosensor monitoring devices.
Any alcohol use detected by the TAC device resulted in a temporary reset of the base supplement rate to $1 per hour. The rate increased by $1 per day for each day the participant remained abstinent and worked for at least five minutes until the maximum amount of $8 per hour was achieved.
The pilot program was implemented in Baltimore, MD.
Abstinence-Contingent Wage Supplements for Alcohol Use was designed to promote alcohol abstinence and employment among adults experiencing homelessness and alcohol use disorder by providing financial incentives dependent on verified abstinence.