overdose prevention

To reduce the risk of opioid overdose and death when reentering the community after incarceration, individuals with opioid use disorder who are incarcerated should have access to jail-provided medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) – methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone – and are promptly connected to services in the community upon release. Planning for reentry from jail is challenging under normal circumstances but is even more challenging when people are admitted and released within days.

In recent years, there has been alarming growth in methamphetamine (meth) and cocaine use and their involvement in overdose fatalities. In 2004, they were the most common illicit drugs used by state and federal prison inmates and convicted jail inmates. However, usage steadily declined among arrestees for more than a decade and was overtaken by opioids. The “meth problem” never really disappeared, and it began to accelerate around 2013, a trend that is expected to continue.

For decades, drug courts have been the leading model serving justice-involved individuals with opioid use disorders, and they continue to play a role in combating the overdose crisis. Drug courts alone, however, are not enough. New courtroom and community-based strategies are needed to ensure swift linkages to evidence-based treatments — including medications for opioid use disorder — wraparound supports, and harm reduction services.

On behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the Institute for Intergovernmental Research is releasing the Rural Responses to the Opioid Epidemic Grant solicitation. BJA is sponsoring this initiative in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the State Justice Institute (SJI). This is part of a series of demonstration projects funded under the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program. These demonstration projects are designed to build local capacity, foster cross-sector collaboration, and support innovation.