Drug-related crimes represent one of the most common types of offense for which individuals are committed to prison

The U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded a $1,550,259 Formula Grant under the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) for State Prisoners Program (CFDA 16.593) to the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services (OOCJS). The grant aims to increase the availability of residential substance abuse treatment services and beds within correctional facilities in Ohio and improve offender reentry and aftercare services to reduce recidivism. Key goals include expanding access to evidence-based programming and medication-assisted treatment for incarcerated individuals with substance use disorders, and enhancing coordination between correctional institutions and local resources to facilitate successful community reintegration. OOCJS, as the state's primary criminal justice planning and funding agency, will sub-award portions of the grant to state and local partners like prosecutors' offices, courts, corrections agencies, and non-profit service providers to implement these substance abuse treatment and reentry initiatives across Ohio.

More than 14,000 new inmates were committed to the ohio department of rehabilitation and correction (ODRC) during the 2022 calendar year. Of these commitments, approximately 26 percent were for a drug OFFENSE38 percent of these individuals were women and 24 percent were men. And those rates have the potential to be higher, research suggests an estimated 65 percent of the US prison population were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the crime. The ohio department of mental health and addiction services (OHIOMHAS) and the ohio department of rehabilitation and correction (ODRC) continue to document the need for more substance abuse treatment for inmates, given that such a large proportion of state prisoners need substance abuse treatment. The goals of the ohio residential substance abuse treatment initiative administered through the ohio office of criminal justice services (OCJS) are: 1) to increase the number of residential treatment services and beds within jails, prisons, juvenile detention centers, and community correctional facilities, available for substance abusing offenders with high risk and needs; 2) to increase the number offenders assessed for their individual criminogenic and substance abuse needs, thereby increasing the number of offenders who receive evidence-based programming and treatment; and 3) to improve offender reentry to the community and aftercare services, through coordination between local resources and correctional institutions, thereby reducing recidivism.