Massachusetts Hub

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Baystate Health, UMass Medical School, and UMass Amherst logoA 2018 Massachusetts law (Chapter 208) established a four-year pilot program to expand the use of all FDA-approved forms of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) at five county jails; two additional jails voluntarily joined this pilot. The law stipulates that MOUD be maintained for individuals who were already receiving it prior to detention; initiated prior to release from jail when appropriate; and continued in the community via facilitated linkages to local services after release. The Massachusetts Hub will conduct a longitudinal treatment outcome study of individuals in these jails to examine MOUD initiation, engagement, and retention, as well as fatal and nonfatal overdose and recidivism. The study will also identify strategies associated with the successful implementation of MOUD.

Study Aims

Evaluate MOUD delivery in jail and care coordination in the community

Measure MOUD initiation, engagement, and retention in jail and in the community

Track utilization of health services, health status, and recidivism following release from jail

Identify best practices to scale up the Chapter 208 pilot program

Estimate the economic cost of implementing MOUD programs in jail to inform policymakers

Study Sites

Massachusetts

Study Settings

Jails (13)

Principal Investigators

Portrait of a man with glasses and a closely shaved head, wearing a bow tie and a tweed jacket. He has a friendly expression, looking directly at the camera against a soft gray background.

Peter Friedmann

MD, MPH, DFASAM, FACP, University of Massachusetts Medical School – Baystate

A woman with long brown hair smiling and wearing a black jacket over a pink shirt, standing in front of a wooden wall with horizontal slats.

Elizabeth Evans

PhD, MA, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Key Co-Investigators

  • Thomas J. Stopka, PhD, Tufts University School of Medicine
  • Ekaterina Pivovarova, PhD, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
  • Sean M. Murphy, PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College
  • Warren J. Ferguson, MD, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
  • Dana L. Bernson, MPH, Massachusetts Department of Public Health
  • Claudia C. Santelices, PhD, Northeastern University
  • Kathryn E. McCollister, PhD, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
  • Thomas Lincoln, MD, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School – Baystate

Health Agency Partner

  • Dana Bernson, Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Justice Agency Partners

  • Kashif Siddiqi, Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office
  • Ed Hayes, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office

JCOIN LEAP Scholars

  • Tess Jurgensen, 2022
  • Amelia Bailey, 2021
  • Levin Schwartz, 2021
  • Pryce Michener, 2021
  • Ed Hayes, 2020
  • Susan Lemere, 2020

Materials

MassJCOIN Papers

  1. Evans, E.A., Pivovarova, E., Senthilkumar, R., Rottapel, R.E., Stopka, T.J., Santelices, C., Ferguson, W.J., Friedmann, P.D. (2023). Diversion of medications to treat opioid use disorder: Qualitative findings from formerly incarcerated adults in Massachusetts.  International Journal of Drug Policy. Accepted.
  2. Friedmann, P., Dunn, D., Michener, P., Bernson, D., Stopka, T.J., Pivovarova, E., Ferguson, W.J., Rottapel, R., Hoskinson, R., Wilson, D., Evans, E. (2023). COVID-19 impacts on opioid overdose after jail release in Massachusetts. DAD Reports. 6:100141. PMID: 36879616; PMCID: PMC9968665.
  3. Matsumoto, A., Santelices, C., Evans, E., Pivovarova, E., Stopka, T.J., Ferguson, W.J., Friedmann, P. (2022). Jail-based reentry programming to support continued treatment with medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD): Qualitative perspectives and experiences among jail staff in Massachusetts. International Journal of Drug Policy. 109:103823. PMID: 35994938; PMCID: PMC10206716. 
  4. Stopka, T., Rottapel, R., Ferguson, W., Pivovarova, E., Del Toro-Mejias, L., Friedmann, P., Evans, E. (2022). Medication for opioid use disorder treatment continuity post-release from jail: A qualitative study with community-based treatment providers.  International Journal of Drug Policy. 110:103803. PMID: 35965159; PMCID: PMC10117037. 
  5. Pivovarova, E., Evans, E., Stopka, T.J., Santelices, C., Ferguson, W.J., Friedmann, P. (2022). Legislatively mandated implementation of medications for opioid use disorders in jails:  A qualitative study of clinical, correctional, and jail administrator perspectives. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 234:109394. PMID: 35349918; PMCID: PMC9169252.1 
  6. Evans, E., Pivovarova, E., Stopka, T.J., Santelices, C., Ferguson, W.J., Friedmann, P.D.  (2022). Uncommon and preventable: Perceptions of diversion of medication for opioid use disorder in jail. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 138:108746. PMID: 35249789; PMCID: PMC9167208.
  7. Evans, E., Wilson, D., Friedmann, P.  (2022). Recidivism and mortality after in-jail buprenorphine treatment for opioid use disorder. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 231:109254. PMID: 35063323; PMCID: PMC8852331. 
  8. Evans, E., Stopka, T. J., Pivovarova, E., Murphy, S. M., Taxman, F. S., Ferguson, W. J., Bernson, D., Santelices, C., McCollister, K. E., Hoskinson, R., Jr, Lincoln, T., Friedmann, P. D., & MassJCOIN Research Group (2021). Massachusetts Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (MassJCOIN). Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 128:108275. PMID: 33483222; PMCID: PMC8263807.

Bonus Papers

Authorship with LEAP scholars or JRIG awardees or the MAARC or justice partner:

  1. Senthilkumar, R., Bailey, A., Moner, E., Parduhn, T. Evans, E.A. (2023). Lessons learned from implementation of a post-opioid overdose outreach program in a rural Massachusetts community. Community Mental Health Journal. Accepted.
  2. Klemperer, E., Evans, E.A., Rawson, R. (2023). Contingency management: An opportunity to improve post-release treatment retention for incarcerated individuals who are prescribed medication for opioid use disorder. Journal of Preventive Medicine.  Accepted.
  3. Klemperer, E. M., Wreschnig, L., Crocker, A., King-Mohr, J., Ramniceanu, A. Brooklyn, J., Peck, K. R., Rawson, R. A., & Evans, E. A. (2023). The impact of the implementation of medication for opioid use disorder and COVID-19 in a statewide correctional system on treatment engagement, post-release continuation of care, and overdose. Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment. 152:209103. PMID: 37311520; PMCID: PMC10257572.
  4. Bailey, A., Taylor, B. G., Pollack, H., Schneider, J.A., Evans, E. (2023). Gender identity, stimulant drug use, and criminal justice history on internalized stigma among a nationally representative sample of adults who misuse opioids. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. PMID: 37322292.
  5. Bailey, A., Senthilkumar, R., Evans, E. (2023). Correlates and patterns in use of medications to treat opioid use disorder (MOUD) in jail. Journal of Addiction Medicine. PMID: 37200092. 
  6. Bailey, A., Evans, E. (2023). Holyoke Early Access to Recovery and Treatment (HEART): A case study of a court-based intervention to reduce opioid overdose. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse. PMID: 36715087. 
  7. Bailey, A., Harrington, C., Evans, E. (2023). A scoping review of community-based post-opioid overdose intervention programs: Implications of program structure and outcomes. Health & Justice. 11(1):3. PMID: 36707446; PMCID: PMC9883127. 
  8. Harrington, C., Bailey, A., Delorme, E., Hano, S., Evans, E. (2022). “And then COVID hits”: A qualitative study of how jails adapted services to treat opioid use disorder during COVID-19. Substance Use & Misuse. 58(2):266-274. PMID: 36510800; PMCID: PMC10208373. 
  9. Evans, E. (2022). Commentary on Adams et al.: Using administrative big data for the public good. Addiction. 117(10):2649-2650. PMID: 35818700; PMCID: PMC9891251.
  10. Donelan, C. J., Hayes, E., Potee, R. A., Schwartz, L., Evans, E. (2021). COVID-19 and treating incarcerated populations for opioid use disorder. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.  2;124, 108216. PMID: 33288348; PMCID: PMC7708799.