The davidson county sheriffs office is submitting this category 1A proposal to BJA grant opportunity number O-BJA-2023-171527 (C-BJA-2023-00017-PROD) to support a collaboration among the davidson…

The davidson county sheriffs office is submitting this category 1A proposal to BJA grant opportunity number O-BJA-2023-171527 (C-BJA-2023-00017-PROD) to support a collaboration among the davidson county sheriffs office (DCSO), metro nashville public schools, and three nonprofit organizations with an extensive history serving people with SUD. The collaboration is supported by research partners at new york university. The allowable activities included in the project are: (1) education and prevention programs to connect law enforcement agencies with K-12 students. (2) evidence-based SUD treatment and recovery support services for pre- and post-trial populations leaving jail, and (3) transitional or recovery housing and peer recovery support services. The project will serve women with histories of SUD who are housed in DCSO facilities, during their period of incarceration and on reentry into the community. Metro nashville has experienced an overdose surge, including fatal overdoses. A sizable share of fatal overdoses involve fentanyl and a growing number involve polydrug use (mostly synthetic opioids and methamphetamine). The proposed project will improve dcsos capacity for pre- and post-release treatment and supportive services, including support with mental health, peer mentorship, transitional housing post-release, and fostering family connections for incarcerated mothers. This project complements prior BJA cossap funding that targeted fathers with SUD and allows US to expand services for women. The project has three components: (1) eligible women in need of housing and support services will be offered the opportunity to release to crossbridges restoration house, where they will be provided with fully equipped apartments, intensive case management, recovery support, employment assistance, peer mentors, and medication monitoring. (2) to reduce the negative consequences of parental incarceration and the intergenerational cycle of SUD, eligible mothers will, with the support of counseling staff, have the opportunity to engage in structured and unstructured activities during weekly visits with their children. These visits will occur in the community, under a program called mothers day out. (3) to address the uptick in overdose deaths among youth under the age of 18, DCSO will engage community partners to expand our school-based evidence-based programming on substance use and mental health in ZIP codes in metro nashville that account for a large share of overdoses. Project deliverables include documented improvements in DCSO SUD screening processes, documented participation in programming provided under this award, a manual standardizing the components of the mothers day out program, process evaluations of our programming components, and reports on outcomes of program participants.