Educational Activities Archives

This webinar will examine how the court system impacts individuals with substance use disorders, explore the role of social workers in navigating this intersection, and highlight best practices for promoting recovery and justice.

Substance use disorders (SUDs) and incarceration are deeply intertwined, with many individuals entering the criminal justice system due to drug-related offenses or behaviors linked to addiction. This webinar explores the complex relationship between addiction and incarceration, examines systemic factors that perpetuate cycles of substance use and imprisonment, and considers the role of social workers in fostering change at both practice and policy levels.

This session explores the clinical and policy landscape of providing medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in jails, prisons, and reentry settings. Dr. Arthur Robin Williams and Dr. Peter Treitler review recent research on the effectiveness of MOUD in reducing overdose and improving post-release treatment engagement. The session highlights key differences among methadone, buprenorphine, and extended-release naltrexone, including regulatory and logistical considerations unique to correctional environments. Learners will examine policy updates, case-based examples, and implementation strategies that support evidence-based treatment access. The session also addresses interdisciplinary collaboration, diversion concerns, and continuity of care across incarceration and reentry.

Transitioning from jails and prisons back into the community can be especially difficult for people with opioid use disorders (OUD). Research suggests that opioid use overdose increases dramatically within the first 30 days of citizens returning to the community. Further, individuals recently released from incarceration face a risk of opioid overdose ten times greater than the general public. During these transitions it is critical that people receive seamless and appropriate resources in order to prevent overdose and return to use. This proper transition can help lower health care costs, hospitalizations and emergency department visits, as well as decrease mortality and recidivism for justice-involved individuals, yet at this time only 13 states have sought Medicaid waivers to provide SUD services pre-release. Join us today as we explore how programs can successfully develop services to ensure returning citizens receive appropriate care to address OUD.

The current opioid and drug overdose crisis continues to have a devastating impact on morbidity and mortality in the United States. With the rise in use of potent synthetic opioids like fentanyl in the drug supply, creating linkages to comprehensive substance use related services is critical. Opioid Treatment Programs (OTP) and the comprehensive care and services they provide play a vital role in addressing this need, yet challenges remain. Despite clear evidence of the benefits of OTP’s, access to OTPs in some parts of the country is limited; stigma related to the use of methadone remains a challenge. Yet in the face of these headwinds, many OTPs are providing comprehensive leading-edge services to address the opioid and drug overdose crisis.

Judge Kim McGinnis, PhD, will use her training in neuropharmacology and as a treatment court judge to dive into the neuroscience and practicalities of medicine for opioid use for justice-involved individuals. Judge McGinnis will describe how changes commonly found in the brain of people struggling with substance misuse and trauma may lead to unexpected behaviors. This will help justice stakeholders better understand why sometimes justice-involved people respond in unexpected ways to services and court requirements. The judge will explain the mechanisms of different substances of misuse and medicine for opioid use disorder. The audience will learn from a judge’s perspective how MOUD enhances outcomes and saves lives.