# Examining predictors of substance use and treatment adequacy among formerly incarcerated opiod and cocaine users

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · 2022 · $595,791

## Abstract

Project Summary
Currently, 2.2 million individuals are incarcerated in the United States (US), and approximately
600,000 are released annually. Substance use disorders (SUDs) are common in this population:
~65% meet the criteria for an SUD diagnosis (vs 5% of the general population). Post-
incarceration, substance use increases considerably, – the risk of drug overdose is 9-17 times
higher among formerly incarcerated individuals than in the general population. However,
significant gaps in our understanding of structural and individual pathways of post-incarceration
substance use limit treatment effectiveness. The proposed study will examine factors
associated with changes in substance use and substance use treatment adequacy over a one-
year period post-release among formerly incarcerated individuals in New York City (NYC),
where opioid-related overdose rates more than doubled between 2015 and 2017 and are
increasing among people of color and residents in high poverty communities. We will examine
the extent to which participants receive substance use treatment services recommended by
their scores on the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) patient placement criteria
(PPC). We will use novel spatially informed multi-level modeling strategies to investigate
individual and environmental factors that influence substance use among individuals released in
NYC from institutions in the New York State Department of Corrections and Community
Supervision (NYSDOCCS), one of the largest U.S. criminal justice correctional agencies.
Guided by social ecological theory, we will address the following Specific Aims: 1). Characterize
substance use at five time points over a 12-month period (at baseline and 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-
months) among those recently released from incarceration; 2). Identify individual- and
environment-level predictors of post-incarceration substance use; and 3) Investigate
discrepancies between ASAM PPC composite scores (a measure of addiction severity)
generated and levels of substance use treatment over time. The proposed research will identify
substance use treatment gaps and influential factors that are amenable to intervention in the
interest of informing effective responses to problematic substance use.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10522324
- **Project number:** 1R01DA055120-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
- **Principal Investigator:** TAWANDRA LASHONE ROWELL-CUNSOLO
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $595,791
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-08-01 → 2027-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10522324

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10522324, Examining predictors of substance use and treatment adequacy among formerly incarcerated opiod and cocaine users (1R01DA055120-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10522324. Licensed CC0.

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