$4 Million Grant to Bolster Health Economics Research in Criminal Justice adn Substance Use Disorder Treatment
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A new initiative backed by a $4 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) aims to improve the economic understanding of substance use disorder treatments and overdose prevention within the U.S. criminal legal system. The five-year grant, awarded to researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine, will establish a dedicated research facility and support ongoing efforts to integrate effective care for individuals impacted by both addiction and incarceration.
Addressing a Critical Gap in Care
Interventions for individuals struggling with substance use disorders are frequently insufficient within the criminal-legal system, frequently enough leading to a cascade of negative health and behavioral consequences, including a heightened risk of overdose upon release. Health economics research plays a vital role in evaluating the value of different interventions across the diverse settings that comprise the criminal-legal landscape – from police stations and courts to jails, prisons, and community supervision programs.
Launching the CLEAR Center and Expanding JCOIN-II
The grant will fund the creation of the Criminal-Legal Economic Analysis & Resource (CLEAR) Center,operating within the Justice Community Overdose Innovation Network (JCOIN).JCOIN, initially launched in 2019 and now in its second phase of funding as JCOIN-II, is dedicated to developing and rigorously testing strategies for substance-use-disorder care within the criminal legal system.
“The CLEAR Center will not only generate rigorous economic evidence regarding which care strategies deliver the greatest value, but also develop tools and resources that administrators and policymakers can use to identify strategic and lasting investments,” explained a CLEAR Center co-principal investigator, Dr. Sean Murphy, professor in the department of population health sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Dr. Kathryn McCollister, professor and interim chair of the department of public health sciences at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine, serves as the other co-principal investigator.
A System Historically Ill-Equipped to Handle Addiction
The U.S. criminal-legal system faces unique challenges in addressing substance use disorders. Traditionally, individuals entering the system were abruptly deprived of the substances they were using, leading to perhaps dangerous and untreated withdrawal symptoms, followed by minimal support upon release. JCOIN and now the CLEAR Center aim to overcome these systemic shortcomings by integrating evidence-based care at every stage.
“Ideally we want to get people on treatment as soon as they are incarcerated, and link them to evidence-based care immediately upon release-when the risk of overdose and other adverse outcomes is typically highest,” Dr. Murphy stated.
Providing Economic Expertise to Drive Impact
The CLEAR Center will provide crucial health economics support to JCOIN-II, including cost-effectiveness analyses of clinical trials focused on substance use disorder interventions. The team will also offer guidance on trial designs, develop cost-benefit and budget-impact calculators for decision-makers, and provide general consultation and technical assistance.
Building on Existing Expertise: The CHERISH Network
Drs. Murphy and mccollister bring extensive experience in substance use disorder-related health economics research to this new endeavor. Both researchers are longtime collaborators through CHERISH – a large, NIDA-funded health economics center of excellence dedicated to informing care for substance use disorder, as well as HIV and hepatitis C virus infection.CHERISH received a renewal of its grant in August, totaling $10.9 million over five years.Dr. Murphy co-directs CHERISH, alongside Dr. Bruce Schackman, the Saul P. Steinberg Distinguished Professor of Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine, while Dr. McCollister directs the CHERISH Methodology core.
This new grant represents a critically important step forward in understanding the economic implications of addressing substance use disorders within the criminal legal system, ultimately aiming to improve outcomes and reduce the devastating consequences of addiction and incarceration.
