Access to Evidence-Based Treatment for Substance Use Disorder

About

People involved in correctional institutions, courts, and child welfare settings are at a significantly higher risk for overdose death than the general population. Ensuring access to evidence-based treatment in these settings is a targeted intervention that will save lives. We recommend actions that federal, state, and local leaders can take immediately to increase evidence-based practices, decrease arbitrary determinations, and prevent overdose deaths.

Our Work

This project focuses on strategies to promote evidence-based treatment for substance use disorders. These strategies include identifying correctional facilities, courts, and child welfare settings as key intervention points for treatment; drafting model legislation and strategy briefs that inform actionable policy; and convening collaborative discussions with practitioners, policymakers, and community members to advance promising practices. Our goal is to dismantle the siloed system of unequal access to treatment and disparities in outcomes 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.