Propensity-matched study of enhanced primary care on contact with the criminal justice system among individuals recently released from prison to New Haven.

Background: Health systems can be integral to addressing population health, including persons with incarceration exposure. Few studies have comprehensively integrated state-wide data to assess how the primary care system can impact criminal justice outcomes. We examined whether enhanced primary care can decrease future contact with the criminal justice system among individuals just released from prison.

Medication-Assisted Treatment for Alcohol-Dependent Adults With Serious Mental Illness and Criminal Justice Involvement: Effects on Treatment Utilization and Outcomes.

Objective: Adults with serious mental illness and comorbid alcohol dependence are at high risk for both high utilization of crisis-driven health care services and criminal justice involvement. Evidence-based medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for alcohol dependence may reduce both crisis service utilization and criminal recidivism. The authors estimated the effect of MAT on behavioral health treatment utilization and criminal justice outcomes for this population.

Associations between pharmacotherapy for opioid dependence and clinical and criminal justice outcomes among adults with co-occurring serious mental illness.

Adults suffering from a serious mental illness (SMI) and a substance use disorder are at especially high risk for poor clinical outcomes and also arrest and incarceration. Pharmacotherapies for treating opioid dependence could be a particularly important mode of treatment for opioid-dependent adults with SMI to lower their risk for overdose, high-cost hospitalizations, repeated emergency department visits, and incarceration, given relapse rates are very high following detoxification in the absence of one of the three FDA-approved pharmacotherapies. This study estimates the effects of methadone, buprenorphine, and oral naltrexone on clinical and justice-related outcomes in a sample of justice-involved adults with SMI, opioid dependence, and criminal justice involvement.

Evaluation of CT's ASIST program: Specialized services to divert higher risk defendants.

Some criminal defendants with mental illness may not be referred to traditional mental health jail diversion programs because they have a history of non-compliance with treatment, or complex personal circumstances such as homelessness. To successfully divert such individuals, Connecticut has developed a specialized program called the Advanced Supervision and Intervention Support Team (ASIST), which offers criminal justice supervision in conjunction with mental health treatment and support services. An evaluation of the ASIST program included a six-month follow-up study of 111 program clients to examine mental health functioning and other outcomes, and a comparison of administrative data for 492 ASIST clients with a propensity-matched group to examine recidivism.