Improving HIV and addiction care for people in jails and the justice system
TechMPower: Advancing HIV/SUD Care and Service Delivery for People Involved in the Criminal Legal System
This project brings rapid HIV testing and bundled addiction and linkage-to-care services to people in county jails to help them get and stay connected to treatment during and after release.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Columbia Univ New York Morningside NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11359390 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From my perspective as someone who might be eligible, the program offers on-the-spot HIV testing, education, case management, and connections to community addiction treatment while I'm in jail. The project is rolling out these services in six county jails in New York and New Jersey and will follow about 1,200 people to track how well the approach works. The team built on a pilot phase and combines delivering care with studying the best ways to put these services into routine jail practice. They will monitor health, treatment starts, and overdose outcomes after people return to the community.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People detained in the participating county jails in New York and New Jersey, especially those with unknown HIV status or with substance use disorders, are ideal candidates.
Not a fit: People who are not incarcerated in the participating sites, who already have stable HIV and addiction care, or whose stay is too brief to receive services may not directly benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, it could find more people with HIV sooner, link more people to HIV and addiction treatment, and reduce overdoses after release.
How similar studies have performed: Programs using rapid testing plus linkage-to-care and medications for opioid use disorder in jails have shown promise for improving diagnosis and treatment, but bundling these implementation strategies across multiple sites at this scale is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
New York, United States
- Columbia Univ New York Morningside — New York, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Hunt, Timothy — Columbia Univ New York Morningside
- Study coordinator: Hunt, Timothy
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 below.