How the “Treatment First” Toolkit Gets Recovery Wrong

A new federal framework titled Best Practices Toolkit: Addressing Homelessness and Addiction through “Treatment First” was released. When we view this toolkit through the lens of lived experience, stigma reduction, and on-the-ground behavioral health awareness, several urgent structural concerns emerge. Policies must reflect the nuanced, non-linear reality of recovery, and in several key areas, this toolkit misses the mark.