Strategies for Reducing Adverse Outcomes for Criminal Justice-Involved Populations

Abstract

In the United States, we spend $81 billion taxpayer dollars annually on the costs of incarceration according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, but including other costs may increase that estimate to$181 billion. Data from Worcester suggest that the cost of incarcerating individuals in the Piedmont neighborhood of Worcester eclipse the entire annual budget of the Division of Public Health in Worcester. With a hard line on petty crime, lack of substance use disorder treatment in jail and prison, concentrated policing and racial profiling in low income communities of color and poor reentry support services, mass incarceration is destined to continue. The opioid crisis in Massachusetts has affirmed that individuals with a history of incarceration and opioid use disorder are at greatest risk for nonfatal and fatal overdose. Furthermore, homelessness and serious mental illness increase that risk dramatically. In turn, the Governor and Secretary of Health and Human Services in concert with the Massachusetts Medicaid Program, the Department of Public Health and the Trial courts have undertaken a multi-pronged strategy to mitigate those risks. This panel will present three interventions to improve those outcomes. Three panelists will describe and present findings on three studies completed and in process to reduce the health risks for justice-involved persons in Massachusetts. Dr. Ferguson will describe an implementation science study of four correctional systems which embarked on medication assisted therapies for opioid use disorder which has helped to inform current mixed methods research to study a pilot of medication assisted treatment in seven Massachusetts jails; Dr. Pivovarova will describe her study of health status for individuals participating in Drug Court, a diversionary program that mandates substance use disorder treatment in the community for individuals arrested for drug related offenses; and Ms. Dupuis will describe the MassHealth funded Behavioral Health Justice Involved project to provide returning citizens with navigators to assist them in linking to community-based treatment and to address social determinants of health such as housing and employment. During the presentations, attendees will be asked to formulate questions or reflections for discussion. These will be collected and prioritized by the moderator of the session for further discussion