Improving Substance Use Treatment Access in Criminal-legal Systems through JCOIN 2.0
The Justice Community Overdose Innovation Network (JCOIN) 2.0 expands research capacity to improve substance use disorder treatment for populations involved with the criminal-legal system.
On September 29, 2025, the Justice Community Overdose Innovation Network (JCOIN) kicked off Phase II of its new five-year cycle that represents an estimated $33 million in research investments in 2025. Awarded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) as part of the NIH HEAL Initiative, the investments help establish clinical research hubs and support centers to address the unique health needs of people with opioid use disorder (OUD) in criminal-legal settings.
More than 80% of incarcerated individuals with a history of OUD do not receive medications for OUD (MOUD) during their stay. Compared to the general population, individuals with OUD who are involved with the criminal-legal system have a much higher risk of a fatal overdose after release from incarceration. Offering MOUD in carceral settings not only effectively reduces relapse, recidivism, overdose, and emergency services, but also increases treatment engagement following release.
JCOIN’s new network of projects (JCOIN 2.0) builds on their early successes and encompasses strategic research initiatives that aim to implement, improve, and sustain access to MOUD in the criminal-legal system. The research spans across justice touchpoints, such as community services, courts, and child welfare, considers geographic variety, partners with people with lived experience through community-engaged research practices, and will generate findings with strong clinical, economic, and policy implications.
CHERISH investigators and Research Affiliates play integral roles throughout JCOIN 2.0 Hubs and Coordinating Centers.
Coordinating Research Supports
CHERISH Co-director Sean M. Murphy and CHERISH Methodology Core Director Kathryn McCollister will lead the Criminal-Legal Economic Analysis & Resource (CLEAR) Center. The center will conduct original economic research within the criminal-legal system; develop tools for practitioners and decision-makers; and facilitate collaboration across Hubs to collect, analyze, and compare cost and resource utilization data.
CHERISH Research Affiliate Harold Pollack will continue to co-lead the Methodology and Advanced Analytics Center (MAARC) (contact PI: John Schneider). MAARC will provide the infrastructure for data submission, data sharing, and analytic support across Hubs; conduct national surveys on substance use, stigma, and behavioral health; develop modeling studies; track policy changes related to Medicaid; and produce datasets for use by JCOIN and NIDA researchers.
Conducting Multi-site and Novel Clinical Studies
CHERISH Methodology Core Director Kathryn McCollister will serve as a co-investigator on the study, Kentucky Women’s Justice Community Overdose Innovation Network – Phase II (contact PI: Michele Staton). The project aims to reduce overdose risk among women in the criminal legal system during their transition from jail to rural communities. She will also serve as a consultant on JCOIN Phase II TCU Clinical Research Hub (contact PI: Jennifer R. Becan), a study that aims to advance implementation strategies that integrate community engagement in Deflection and Pre-Arrest Diversion initiatives.
CHERISH Methodology Core Co-director Ali Jalali will serve as a co-investigator on the study, Improving Jail Response to the Overdose Crisis: A Hybrid Trial of Jail ECHO to Improve MOUD Implementation and Public Health Outcomes (contact PI: Rosemarie A. Martin). This project aims to increase access and implementation of MOUD in rural jails through Jail ECHO Operations, Planning, and Strategy (J-ECHO OPS), an intervention that engages jail leadership, jail staff, and community MOUD professionals in joint learning sessions and care-based discussions. Jalali will also be a co-investigator on Testing MOUD Scale-Up Strategies in Criminal Legal Settings (contact PI: Todd D. Molfenter), a study that will evaluate a systems change approach to scaling-up MOUD across 120 prisons in 12 states.
CHERISH Research Affiliate Michael Dennis will lead the study, Recovery Management Checkup Scalability and Sustainability (RMC-SS) Hybrid Experiment: Evaluating Comparability of Client and Implementation Outcomes in Community Organizations Post-Arrest. This project aims to increase adoption of Recovery Management Checkups (RMC), an evidence-based intervention that leverages the public health model for chronic disease management to link individuals to treatment, through community-based programs.
CHERISH Advisory Board member Lisa Marsch will serve as a Multiple PI on the study, Strengthening buprenorphine treatment for Individuals in carceral settings (STAND): A hybrid implementation-effectiveness trial of long-acting injectable versus sublingual buprenorphine (contact PI: Joshua D. Lee). This project aims to address gaps in care for incarcerated individuals with OUD who are preparing for reentry. The study will provide data on treatment retention, implementation feasibility, and relative costs of offering long-acting injectable or sublingual buprenorphine prior to release.
CHERISH Research Affiliate Brendan Saloner will serve as a Multiple PI on the study, Evaluating a Novel Approach to Dispensing Methadone in Carceral Facilities (Contact PI: Sachini Bandara). This project aims to evaluate the implementation strategies and economic impact of carceral facilities that plan to supply methadone under a new ruling issued by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) in 2024.