North Carolina Opioid Settlements

Welcome to CORE-NC: Community Opioid Resources Engine for North Carolina

(11) Addiction Treatment for Incarcerated Persons

A medical professional with gloves is pressing gauze to a person's elbow after giving blood.

What is this strategy?

Support evidence-based addiction treatment, including Medication-Assisted Treatment with at least one FDA-approved opioid agonist, to persons who are incarcerated in jail or prison.

Why addiction treatment for incarcerated persons?

Increasing the availability of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) with FDA-approved medications, such as buprenorphine, within the justice system is critical to ensuring that all individuals have access to evidence-based treatment. Studies have shown that MAT reduces criminal activity, overdose risk, the spread of costly infectious diseases, and recidivism.

With the risk of overdose during the first two weeks post-release nearly 40 times higher among formerly incarcerated individuals compared to the general public, access to MAT within the justice system as well as expedited transitions to treatment in the community is critical.

Jail based MAT programs can take many different forms and can be implemented gradually based on the resources and capacity of the individual detention center. For more information, contact justiceandpublichealth@dhhs.nc.gov or opioidsettlement@ncacc.org.

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