Identifying and addressing substance abuse incidence in a jail population

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2017

Substance use is a nationwide problem that has a concentrated impact on county jails due to the disproportionate incidence in the incarcerated population. Jails must manage the health and safety of these individuals in custody. The problem appears to be increasing along with serious health consequences for untreated substance abuse. These individuals also are at higher risk to return to jail and to utilize high cost emergency and medical services in the community. It is critical to develop an informed understanding of the population entering jail regarding incidence of alcohol and drug use in order to effectively address the problem in the context of in custody health care. By identifying substance use risk, interventions can be bundled into existing integrated health care. In addition, individuals with serious substance use disorders can be identified to initiate treatment in jail and to continue care in the community. Effective community transition requires initiation and preparation while in custody to facilitate community provided treatment engagement. The SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral to Treatment) model, utilized in medical clinics, hospitals and other community settings is an effective process for jails to identify individuals at risk with evidence based screening tools, to provide educational interventions by trained health staff, and to make treatment referrals. By modifying an existing electronic health record system to add screening tools and to capture interventions and referrals, a jail healthcare team can capture data to identify and treat the substance abusing population as well as to provide valuable reporting data on substance misuse prevalence and trends over time at very little cost. Collaboration among county departments to provide SBIRT training model raises health care provider awareness and skill to incorporate substance use assessment and treatment into existing health care, again at little cost due to cross departmental collaboration.