Volume XIV, Issue XX - March 2021

From:

David T. Jones, Director

Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery

Webinar:  SUPR IL Learning Collaborative to Support MAR for Justice-Involved Populations

In collaboration with the Illinois Department of Human Services/Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery, Health Management Associates (HMA) is offering robust expert technical assistance (TA) for county teams interested in standing up or expanding medication assisted recovery (MAR) programs in their jail and to support continued recovery support in the community post-release.

To learn more about the Learning Collaborative, register and join the Program Overview Webinar:  Wednesday, April 7, 2021, 1-2 p.m.

Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) is rampant in our communities and also in jail and prison populations. MAR is well established as the evidence-based intervention for OUD but fewer than 1 percent of jails and prisons in the US provide MAR. Correctional systems can increase MAR capacity to respond to individuals with OUD to reduce risk for the incarcerated individual as well as for the staff and detention facility, and for the larger community once the individual is released.

MAR in correctional settings has been shown to lower mortality on release: the Rhode Island Department of Corrections dropped overdose deaths for persons recently released by 61 percent within a year of implementing their MAR program (which offers all three forms of FDA-approved medication options) to inmates. Persons receiving MAR during incarceration are less likely to disrupt the jail community while incarcerated than those in forced withdrawal and are also more likely to engage with community recovery support after release.

SUPR providers often work with justice involved populations and are invited to participate in these county teams. Treating OUD in jails presents unique challenges, and practices in treating OUD vary widely across Illinois' jails. This Learning Collaborative to Support MAR Implementation for Justice-Involved Individuals in Illinois Counties will prepare County Teams to improve and expand access to MAR in local jails, drug courts, probation and/or criminal justice diversion programs. The project will broaden county knowledge and understanding of MAR and its place in the criminal justice system, increase the use of MAR using evidence-based and emerging promising practices and promote a county culture that supports MAR in jails and drug courts. It will also build data systems that capture and quantify the use of MAR and its outcomes for justice-involved individuals.

Stipends are available for county teams to support their participation in the Learning Collaborative. Submission of a short application is required.

Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. April 23, 2021.