How county incarceration affects access to addiction treatment and outcomes
Official title: County incarceration and substance use treatment need, availability, use, and outcomes.
Funded at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences · NIH-11468749 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Researchers are looking at whether higher county jail and prison rates are linked to less available and used addiction treatment and worse outcomes for people with substance use problems.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Newark, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | September 15, 2023 |
| Project end | December 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $707,262 |
| NIH project number | 7R01DA055606-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11468749 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People with substance use problems living in U.S. counties—especially those who have been arrested, jailed, or otherwise involved with the criminal legal system—are the population this work focuses on.
✕Less likely to help
People outside the United States, those without substance use issues, or individuals who are not represented in county administrative records (for example, some undocumented residents or people who never seek care) may not see direct benefit from this project.
What this research studies
This project links county jail and prison data with health, treatment, and death records from every U.S. county between 2004 and 2023. The team will compare places with higher versus lower incarceration rates to see differences in overdose deaths, emergency visits, how many treatment programs exist, who enters care, and who completes or stays in treatment. They will use hospital, treatment admission, public health, and survey-derived measures to track patterns over time and across communities. The findings are intended to highlight where incarceration may contribute to gaps in local addiction treatment and where resources are most needed.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could point to policies and resource changes that expand access to addiction treatment and reduce incarceration-related barriers to care.
How similar studies have gone: Previous studies have linked criminal legal involvement to lower use of addiction treatments like medications for opioid use disorder, but this large, county-level, multi-year national linkage is more comprehensive and relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
-
Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
Newark, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mauro, Pia M. — Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Mauro, Pia M.
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.