# Evaluating Problem Solving Courts as a Public Health Intervention to Prevent Opioid Overdose

> **NIH ALLCDC R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2020 · $607,077

## Abstract

SUMMARY
 Adults incarcerated following arrest for drug misuse are a vulnerable population.
Historically, the role of courts in drug arrest cases is to impose sanctions and protect society
from future harm. Problem solving courts (PSCs) are a public health intervention that refer
arrested individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) to treatment as a pre-trial diversionary
strategy. The research outcome of the proposed project will rigorously evaluate the
implementation and impact of an existing strategy in response to Research Objective 4: strategies
for evaluation that infuse public health approaches into public safety and response. Although
previous studies have examined the effect of PSCs on recidivism, characteristics of individual
PSC policies, procedures, and practices and their impact on morbidity and mortality rates have
not been rigorously evaluated. Specifically, the proposed project will address the following
research question: Do PSCs promote health and wellness of individuals and their
communities by impacting subsequent morbidity and mortality rates? There are 5 Specific
Aims of the proposed project to evaluate both the implementation and impact of PSCs: 1)
Quantitatively coding policies and procedures of individual PSCs and traditional correctional
facilities; (2) qualitatively evaluating the development and implementation of policies and
procedures adopted by individual PSCs and traditional correctional facilities; (3) analyzing the
effect of individual PSC and traditional correctional facility policies and procedures on opioid-
related morbidity and mortality; (4) integrating impactful PSC and/or correctional facility
protocols revealed from Aims 1-3 into a synthetic OUD population framework; and, (5)
developing and disseminating to public health agencies, the judiciary, and other key stakeholders
evidence-based recommendations and tools. The proposed project is a partnership between the
University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (a previously funded Injury Control
Research Center), Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH), Indiana Management
Performance Hub (MPH), and Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Pitt
Public Health’s partner, ISDH, received programmatic funding through the Prevention for
States Program and an Enhanced State Opioid Overdose Surveillance grant, and is currently
applying to the Overdose Data to Action Program. This project will be the first to systemically
evaluate the impact of PSCs on health and wellness and will lead to changes to the judicial
system that will improve public health and lower fatal and non-fatal overdose rates.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10022290
- **Project number:** 5R01CE003152-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Elizabeth Van Nostrand
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $607,077
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-30 → 2022-09-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10022290

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10022290, Evaluating Problem Solving Courts as a Public Health Intervention to Prevent Opioid Overdose (5R01CE003152-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10022290. Licensed CC0.

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