Abstract:
This case examines the methadone maintenance program used to treat heroin addicts in New York City, focusing on the program's successful expansion under Health Services Administrator Gordon Chase. Part A details the heroin problem and policy objectives for government involvement. Part A also enumerates the pros and cons of methadone maintenance as a means of treating heroin addiction. Part B follows Chase as he struggles to expand the city's methadone program, while facing resistance from a variety of bureaucratic and political abstracts. The case concludes with the implementation of an expanded program by Dr. Robert Newman, Director of the Bureau of Methadone Maintenance.
Learning Objective:
The case may be used to illustrate the relationship of policy analysts to policy activists, in program development and implementation. In particular, it underscores the need for both the analyst's attention to detail, and the activist's creative thinking and inspiration, to insure the success of a program. The case also demonstrates the need for policy analysts to include an implementation analysis in their overall analysis, to insure a given recommendation's feasibility and clarity. Finally, the case lends itself to an ethical analysis of methadone maintenance.
