RSAT

Drug court practitioners and harm reductionists have a shared interest in improving public health and community safety. These two fields are also likely to co-exist and confront similar challenges for years to come. As such, this presentation represents a new and necessary conversation— one that will help to bridge the gap between the two contrasting paradigms. The training will provide an overview of what harm reduction is— its origins, evolution, and guiding principles— and highlight the benefits and challenges of integrating harm reduction in the drug court space.

This presentation will provide an overview of racial and ethnic disparities in drug treatment courts. Presenters will outlines decision points to address racial and ethnic disparities using NADCP’s Adult Drug Court Best Practice Standards. Learners will be empowered to be intentional in identifying opportunities to invoke change in practice, procedure, or policies that affect and improve racial equity outcomes in their own professional roles.

In our pre-COVID-19 world, the statistics surrounding addiction and opioid use disorder were already staggering. Now, as communities and providers slowly reopen, we are seeing remarkable increases in behavioral health issues. Many individuals have experienced higher levels of anxiety, depression, social isolation, financial worries, changes at work and home, and a continuous sense of uncertainty.

The Promising Practices Guidelines for Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (PPGs for RSAT) were first published in November 2017 based upon research in the field of substance use disorder treatment and correctional programming. In 2019, the Bureau of Justice Assistance launched a national program to assess RSAT program adherence to these guidelines. These Fidelity Assessments are currently underway to determine the strengths as well as the training and technical assistance needs of RSAT programs and grantees.

Development of Adult Prison and Jail RSAT Promising Practice Guidelines