This publication focusing on jails and courts is fourth in a series on rural community solutions to address substance abuse disorder as part of the Responses to the Opioid Epidemic (RROE) project’s implementation of the Sequential Intercept Model (SIM).
This brief examines how three Rural Responses to the Opioid Epidemic (RROE) project sites implement services to assist those with mental health disorders and substance use disorders (SUDs) already in the jail system and get them the treatment they need to transition back into the community and reduce recidivism. This series explores how RROE sites’ efforts aligned at each point of the Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) and the public safety/public health partnerships that strengthened these efforts. Intercept 3 of the SIM involves working with individuals held in jail before and during their trials with mental health disorders and SUDs who were not diverted at earlier intercepts. Key elements for diversion at Intercept 3 include treatment courts for high-risk individuals where services could begin during the pre- or post-plea process, alternatives to prosecution that include services in the community in lieu of an intensive treatment court, jail-based programming and health care services, and collaboration with community-based providers to help individuals transition from jail-based to community-based services. The RROE project, co-funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the State Justice Institute, supported 21 rural sites across the country to develop or enhance efforts to strengthen epidemiologic surveillance and public health data infrastructure; implement effective community-level opioid overdose prevention activities; and establish or enhance public safety, public health, and behavioral health collaborations. The SIM delineates how individuals with mental health disorders and substance use disorders (SUDs) move through the criminal justice system. The purpose of the SIM is to help communities identify gaps in services. The goal is to encourage collaboration among community leaders and stakeholders to work together to divert people with behavioral health issues away from the justice system and into a network of treatment alternatives.