# Using Implementation Interventions and Peer Recovery Support to Improve Opioid Treatment Outcomes in Community Supervision

> **NIH NIH U01** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $2,404,757

## Abstract

Abstract
Individuals who have been previously incarcerated have a significantly higher risk of dying from
overdose; particularly in the first two weeks after release. More than 4.5 million people is the US are
supervised in the community setting and nearly half have a substance use disorder but few receive
services. There is a critical need for linkage to medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) for individuals
on community supervision. Providing medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) to individuals on
probation or parole decreases the rate of relapse and recidivism, and increases retention in substance
abuse treatment. In 2016, RIDOC introduced the first correctional system-wide MOUD program in the
country to initiate a comprehensive program to offer all three FDA approved medications (in all prison or
jail settings) to all eligible individuals. As a result of the RIDOC program, we have expanded MOUD
linkage to treatment in the community that is associated with a significant drop in statewide
overdose deaths post-release. This work is the foundation from which we have built the current
proposal. Our proposed research is to rigorously test a systems-change approach for increasing use of
MOUD using a randomized type 1 hybrid implementation-effectiveness design in probation and parole
sites. We propose a unique network of 7 geographically distinct community supervision (probation and
parole) performance sites from Rhode Island, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. After a 6-month period
of baseline for comparison, the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainability framework is
used to guide systems-change through facilitated local change teams consisting of justice and
community service providers. A core set of implementation strategies is provided to all sites. The overall
objective is to improve linkage to the continuum of evidence-based care for justice-involved individuals.
Organizational assessments are timed with EPIS stages. At the end of Implementation, N=680
probation/parolee clients will be randomly assigned to receive peer support specialists vs. no peer
support with follow-up at 3, 6 and 12 months. Implementation outcomes include program acceptability,
adoption, penetration, sustainability and costs. Client-level effectiveness outcomes include retention,
satisfaction, opioid use, opioid overdoses, recidivism, linkage to OUD treatment, and utilization of
recovery services. This research team is uniquely poised to evaluate the implementation and
impact of MOUD among justice-involved individuals, to answer questions of urgent public health
significance, inform implementation science, and improve service delivery.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10149280
- **Project number:** 5U01DA050442-03
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $2,404,757
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-01 → 2024-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10149280

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10149280, Using Implementation Interventions and Peer Recovery Support to Improve Opioid Treatment Outcomes in Community Supervision (5U01DA050442-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10149280. Licensed CC0.

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