(MPIs: K. Knight, D. Knight, D. Olson & N. Painter Davis)
The JCOIN TCU Hub recognizes the current opioid crisis among justice- involved individuals and the corresponding need to intervene at the intersection of justice and community health. The JCOIN study explores positive outcomes for justice-involved individuals and the systems associated with a multi-level hybrid implementation approach. This approach capitalizes on facilitated collaboration (coaching), training, and cross-system data sharing in an effort to leverage improvements in interagency collaboration between criminal justice and community behavioral health (CBH). Ultimately, JCOIN seeks to improve local community public health and safety outcomes for reentering justice-involved individuals who have a history of (or are at risk for) using opioids.
Specific aims include:
1) increase access to and retention in CBH and medication treatment programs for opioid use disorders (MOUD) for reentering justice-involved individuals who have a history of (or are at risk for) opioid use
2) improve outcomes (including costs) associated with public health and safety
3) compare two implementation approaches (top down versus horizontal implementation) on systems-level outcomes designed to increase service initiation and receipt
4) examine the impact these two implementation approaches have on individual outcomes for justice-involved individuals
The JCOIN project examines both implementation fidelity and efficacy, seeking to answer the question of which implementation strategy (top down versus horizontal cascading) is most effective for rapid uptake of evidence-based practices within justice settings. The study also examines which strategy is most effective for increasing service linkage and initiation, service retention, and improved opioid-related public health safety outcomes.
A Hybrid Type 3 study design will be used mainly to compare two implementation strategies and two interventions at two levels (client and system). A secondary aim is to assess client-level outcomes associated with the trial. This design integrates two robust methodologies (stepped wedge and cluster randomized trial), and includes over a dozen clinical research performance sites (communities) located across Texas, New Mexico, and Illinois. The multisite JCOIN TCU Hub includes a highly experienced team of Multiple PIs, investigators, and partners, all of which contribute to the HEAL JCOIN network. This network serves to establish a national consortium of investigators examining promising approaches designed to improve the capabilities and capacity of the justice system to more effectively address the opioid epidemic.
Learn more about the JCOIN Network.
Please visit the TCU Hub Opioid-Treatment Linkage Model Resources, developed as part of the NIH/NIDA funded JCOIN 1.0 TCU Hub project. The materials offer best practices and innovative solutions for delivering substance use (SU) and opioid use (OU) treatment to support an optimal continuum of services. The strategies and resources presented in the guide and webinar are informed by knowledge generated from pilot studies, local community initiatives, and state and federally-funded programs; to help community corrections staff, community behavioral health (CBH) providers, and medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) clinicians expand and enhance SU and OU treatment services for individuals reintegrating into communities upon release from correctional facilities.
Learn more about the TCU Research Hub Opioid Treatment Linkage Model (O-TLM)
Project Publications
Knight, D. K., Becan, J. E., Olson, D., Davis, N. P., Jones, J., Wiese, A., Carey, P., Howell, D., & Knight, K. (2021). Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN): The TCU research hub. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 1
(5). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0740547221000167
Adams, Z. W., Taylor, B. G., Flanagan, E., Kwon, E., Johnson-Kwochka, A. V., Elkington, K. S., Becan, J. E., & Aalsma, M. C. (2021). Opioid Use Disorder Stigma, Discrimination, and Policy Attitudes in a National Sample of U.S. Young Adults. The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 69(2), 321–328.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.12.142
Molfenter, T., Ducharme, L., Stein, L., Belenko, S., Mitchell, S. G., Watson, D. P., Aalsma, M. C., Friedmann, P. D., Becan, J. E., Garner, B. R., Vechinski, J., Bouris, A., Claypool, E., & Elkington, K. (2024). A conceptual framework for assessing implementation strategy integrity. Implementation research and practice, 5, 26334895241297278. https://doi.org/10.1177/26334895241297278
Fallin-Bennett, A., Tillson, M., Webster, J. M., Oser, C. B., Becan, J. E., Knight, K., Byard, J., & Staton, M. (2024). Scales for participant Alliance with Recovery Coach (SPARC): initial development and pilot test. Addiction research & theory, 32(1), 20–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/16066359.2023.2182881
Sease, A.W., Carey, P., Becan, J.E., Wood, C., Knight, K. (in press). Achieving Policy Changes to Improve Access to Community Services: Best Practices for Researchers Engaging with Criminal Justice Partners. Journal of Correctional Health Care.
Sease, T., Castillo, R., Olson, D., Becan, J., Carabell, P., Malecka, M., Knight, K. (in press). Is Criminal History Associated with Substance Use and Substance Use Treatment Need Among People in Prison? Criminal Justice Review.
