Criminal Justice

Innovative at their inception three decades ago, drug courts confront a practical and ethical obligation to reimagine some core practices and assumptions. A shifting legal and public health landscape means, for example, increased scrutiny of the courts’ focus on abstinence and mandated treatment, and the use of jail. This publication argues the most effective way for drug courts to evolve is by integrating the practices and principles of harm reduction

In 2019, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) began supporting research on treatment for opioid use disorder in criminal justice settings. The Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN) studies the effectiveness of new medications and other interventions as part of the NIH HEAL Initiative – Helping to End Addiction Long-Term.

Summary of innovation abstracts that were presented at the National Academy of Medicine’s recent Stigma of Addiction Summit.

Rural Community Opioid Response Program (RCORP) grantees discussed their efforts and initiatives working with criminal justice and corrections agencies to engage individuals who are incarcerated.

Drug overdose deaths in the United States hit a record high in 2017, with an estimated 72,000  deaths. Over two-thirds of those deaths, roughly 47,600, were due to opioids.These  staggering numbers continued in 2018, as over 67,000 drug overdose deaths occurred, and  opioids were involved in rough 46,800 of those overdose deaths. This roadmap highlights existing state efforts and serves as a policy development tool for Governors and state officials seeking to improve coordination and bolster existing efforts across state agencies to address OUD among people involved in the justice system by expanding access to evidence-based medications.

Your First 48 Toolkit is a Durham County resource guide for successful reentry within 48 hours after incarceration and beyond by connecting you to resources and service providers that help overcome the barriers to a successful reentry. Returning to your community with a criminal record can be a difficult task due to the collateral consequence of incarceration that limits access to employment, housing, healthcare, and education. Your First 48 Toolkit promotes social and economic independence through relationship building, strong community involvement, education and public support. The Toolkit will help you foresee barriers to a successful reentry and identify likely solutions by informing you of who to connect with and what questions to ask.

To advance the broader aims of a healthy and just society, the regular use of language that is nonprejudicial is critical. This document outlines a person first language approach and offers guiding principles and recommendations regarding accurate and nonpejorative terminology.

The National Governors Association and the American Correctional Association recently released a new toolkit on "Expanding Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder in Corrections and Community Settings: A Roadmap for States to Reduce Opioid Use Disorder for People in the Justice System." This roadmap highlights existing state efforts and serves as a policy development tool for Governors and state officials seeking to improve coordination and bolster existing efforts across state agencies to address OUD among people involved in the justice system by expanding access to evidence-based medications. The following are key steps for supporting MOUD in corrections settings.

Representing 25 years of empirical study on addiction, pharmacology, behavioral health, and criminal justice, these Standards are the foundation upon which all adult drug courts must operate.

This report provides recommendations for actions that state and local leaders can take immediately to increase evidence-based practices, decrease arbitrary determinations, and prevent overdose deaths. The report also provides concrete steps that will, in the longterm, help dismantle a siloed system of unequal access and disparities and move towards an integrated system that promotes restorative justice, where people and families are treated with dignity, and where addiction is treated as a health and wellness matter rather than one of moral failing or criminality.