Publications and Digital Products

This action brief provides criminal justice stakeholders, correctional facility leadership, & correctional staff with helpful strategies & techniques to reduce diversion of MAT medications. The information for this brief was developed by a panel of correctional leaders & experts throughout the US.

This guide focuses on using medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder in jails and prisons and during the reentry process when justice -involved persons return to the community. It provides an overview of policies and evidence-based practices that reduce the risk of overdose and relapse.    

This report provides evidence-based practices for screening and assessment of adults in the justice system with mental illness, substance use disorders, or both. It discusses the importance of instrument selection for screening and assessment and provides detailed descriptions of recommended instruments.

This action brief provides rural communities recommended strategies for adapting promising or proven interventions to better support crisis response and pre-arrest diversion in their communities. It is the first of three briefs developed from the SAMHSA Pre-Arrest Diversion Expert Panel. 

This brief provides guidance to state governments on increasing the availability of evidence-based medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in criminal justice (CJ) settings. By including the criminal justice system as a path to treatment, states may see an increase in access to and retention in treatment, and lower rates of overdoses, re-offending, and re-incarcerations. In this brief, states are provided an overview of the issue, the challenges to incorporating MAT, key considerations for establishing MAT in CJ settings, and existing standards/guidelines.

This guide provides information and practices that behavioral health providers can implement in their daily practice with patients or clients who are involved in the criminal justice system. 

This guide helps local systems use data to implement Crisis Intervention Team programs that can improve the safety and effectiveness of law enforcement response to people experiencing behavioral health crises. It provides information about building necessary partnerships, documenting program activities, identifying key metrics, establishing data collection processes, analyzing and reporting data, using data to improve programs, and expanding capacity to collect and use data. The guide is a companion to Practice Guidelines: Core Elements in Responding to Mental Health Crises.

Provides behavioral health, correctional, and community stakeholders with examples of the implementation of successful strategies for transitioning people with mental or substance use disorders from institutional correctional settings into the community. Highlights prevalence of mental and substance use disorders in correctional settings.

This report examines the opportunities and challenges associated with municipal court diversion for people living with mental illness and substance use disorder conditions. It outlines elements for effective diversion, recovery-based engagement strategies, and proportional response.

This guide highlights the use of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder in drug courts. It reviews effective medications, including methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone. The guide also provides strategies to increase the use of MAT in drug court programs.