Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) in Corrections

Over the past several years, the United States has been in the grip of an escalating overdose epidemic, with 67,367 drug overdose deaths occurring in 2018 alone.

Incarcerated individuals and persons recently released from jails and prisons are at an increased risk. A study conducted at the Washington State Department of Prisons found that formerly incarcerated individuals were more than 12 times more likely to die in the two weeks following release from prison, compared to the general population, mostly due to drug overdose.

The World Health Organization (WHO), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), and others have endorsed the effectiveness of MOUD and have urged correctional systems to provide adults in custody with these evidence-based treatments¹. However, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that less than five percent of justice-involved individuals in need of opioid treatment were given the option of medications for opioid use disorders (MOUD).

In response to the opioid epidemic and technical assistance requests from the field, the Opioid Response Network (ORN) hosted two national summits for federal and state correctional departments, county jails, and local municipalities interested in implementing MOUD.

The first, Medications for Opioid Use Disorders in Correctional Settings Shifting the Paradigm: Creating a Balanced Correctional and Rehabilitative Approach, was held in January of 2020. The summit highlighted the Rhode Island Department of Corrections’ model (one of the first to incorporate MOUD system-wide), as well as other evidence-based delivery models from correctional systems around the country. Please see the MOUD in Corrections Summit Report for details of the proceedings.

A year later in January of 2021, a second national convening was held: Medications for Opioid Use Disorder: Moving to Implementation built upon the 2020 summit. A full conference summary and resources will be forthcoming.

This page contains resources aimed to assist those looking to implement MOUD programs in correctional systems.

Featured Resources

Rhode Island Department of Corrections (RIDOC) MAT Program Videos

In a series of videos, leaders from the Rhode Island Department of Corrections (RIDOC), Brown University, and the Opioid Response Network (ORN) discuss the planning, execution, and success of Medications for Opioid Use Disorders (MOUD) in combating opioid addiction. Since 2015, Rhode Island’s MOUD program has helped reduce the overdose rate among individuals leaving the state’s correctional facilities by an overwhelming sixty-one percent.

Watch the full video, the short version, or individual chapters, listed below:

• Program Background
• Why MAT/Setting up the program
• Getting Buy In
• Vendor Information
• Security (extended security)
• The Medline
• Evaluation and Program Results

Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Opioid Use Disorder in Jails and Prisons: A Planning and Implementation Toolkit

• Website
• PDF

 

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¹UNODC/WHO. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime/World Health Organization. HIV/AIDS Prevention Care, Treatment and Support in Prison Setting. A Framework for and Effective National Response. 2006 NIH (National Institutes of Health). (1997). Effective treatment of opiate addiction. 15 NIH Consensus Statement. November 17–19). NIDA. (2012a). Medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction. Retrieved from http://www.drugabuse.gov/sites/default/files/tib_mat_opioid.pdf
Boucher, R. (2002). Case for Methadone Maintenance Treatment in Prisons, The. Vt. L. Rev., 27, 453.