Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network

Overview

The Research Need

Many people with opioid use disorder (OUD) pass through the criminal justice system. Improved access to high-quality, evidence-based addiction treatment in justice settings will be critical to addressing the opioid crisis.

About the Program

The Helping to End Addiction Long-termSM Initiative, or NIH HEAL InitiativeSM, will support the Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN) to study approaches to increase high-quality care for people with opioid misuse and OUD in justice settings. JCOIN will test strategies to expand effective treatment and care in partnership with local and state justice systems and community-based treatment providers.

JCOIN will include:

  • A national survey of addiction treatment delivery services within the justice system
  • Studies on the effectiveness and adoption of new medications, prevention and treatment interventions, and technologies
  • Using existing data sources in novel ways to understand care in justice populations

Together, these studies will generate real-world evidence to address the unique needs of individuals with OUD in justice settings.

#NIHHEAL: The Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network with Dr. Faye Taxman

Faye Taxman, PhD discusses the Women's Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network.

#NIHHEAL: Dr. Rosemary Martin on Telehealth Services for OUD in the Criminal Justice System

Rosemarie Martin, PhD discusses how a telehealth program could improve outcomes for justice-involved women.

Program Details

Through the NIH HEAL Initiative, NIH awarded 15 grants to form JCOIN. The awards, which total approximately $105.4 million, will support the innovation network over multiple years. JCOIN consists of research institutions and two centers that will provide supportive infrastructure — the Coordination and Translation Center and the Methodology and Advanced Analytic Resource Center.

The research institutions will each work with five or more communities, engaging with justice settings and with service providers in the community. They will study evidence-based medications, behavioral interventions, digital therapeutics, and comprehensive patient-centered treatments in 15 states and Puerto Rico.

The Coordination and Translation Center will manage logistics, engagement with practitioners and other key stakeholders in the justice and behavioral health fields, and dissemination of products and key research findings. It will also conduct research to identify effective dissemination strategies for reaching criminal justice stakeholders and provide funding for innovative, rapid-turnaround pilot studies. An educational component will provide outreach and mentorship to researchers and practitioners on conducting rigorous studies in justice settings.

The Methodology and Advanced Analytic Resource Center will provide data infrastructure and statistical and analytic expertise to support individual JCOIN studies and cross-site data synchronization. The center will also conduct novel empirical research to understand changes in state policies and practices within the criminal justice system as they relate to the opioid crisis.

    Research Examples

    Through the research institutions, JCOIN will address gaps in OUD treatment and related services in a wide range of criminal justice settings, including jails, drug and other problem-solving courts, policing and diversion, re-entry, and probation and parole.

    Examples of research that the research institutions will undertake include:

    • Studying the effectiveness and adoption of new medications for OUD
    • Evaluating new state mandates around medication services and drug courts
    • Assessing the effectiveness and implementation of processes to engage and retain individuals in OUD treatment (e.g., telehealth, patient navigation, peer recovery support services)
    • Determining how to implement opioid-related services at the community, state, and national levels

    Research Institutions

    • Baystate Medical Center – Massachusetts
    • Brown University – Rhode Island
    • Chestnut Health Systems, Inc. – Illinois
    • Friends Research Institute, Inc. – Maryland
    • New York State Psychiatric Institute – New York
    • New York University School of Medicine – New York
    • Texas Christian University – Texas
    • University of Chicago – Illinois
    • University of Kentucky – Kentucky
    • Yale University – Connecticut

    Coordination and Translation Center

    • George Mason University – Virginia

    Methodology and Advanced Analytic Resource Center

    • University of Chicago – Illinois

    Funded Projects

    2021
    JCOIN Coordination and Translation Center
    Sep 25, 2021
    2020
    Facilitating Opioid Care Connections: System level strategies to improve use of MAT and movement through the opioid care cascade for defendants in a new Opioid Court system
    Mar 19, 2020
    2020
    Using Implementation Interventions and Peer Recovery Support to Improve Opioid Treatment Outcomes in Community Supervision
    Mar 19, 2020
    2020
    Improving Retention across the OUD Service Cascade upon Re-entry from Jail using Recovery Management Checkups
    Mar 19, 2020
    2020
    Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN): TCU Clinical Research Center
    Mar 19, 2020

    Closed Funding Opportunities

    2019
    Translational Research on Interventions for Adolescents in the Legal System: TRIALS (U01)
    Sep 25, 2019
    2019
    HEAL Initiative: Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN) Coordination and Translation Center (U2C Clinical Trial Optional)
    Sep 25, 2019
    2019
    HEAL Initiative: Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN) Methodology and Advanced Analytics Resource Center (U2C Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
    Sep 25, 2019

    Contact

    Participating NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices

     

    NIH establishes network to improve opioid addiction treatment in criminal justice settings

    The National Institutes of Health will award 12 grants to form the Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN) to support research on quality addiction treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) in criminal justice settings nationwide.

    Read more