The Chesapeake Implementation Center at George Mason University proposes to continue as a research center in the next installment of the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies. Our partners are the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (federal probation and parole system) and correctional and health state partners in Maryland and Virginia as well as major cities (Baltimore and Richmond). Our group reflects the heterogeneity of the justice system in governing authorities, populations (juvenile and adult), and settings and will provide a fertile ground to test implementation models.
We aim to: 1) examine organizational change processes involved in adopting, implementing, and sustaining evidence-based treatment practices;2) conduct rigorous multi-site implementation studies designed to improve continuum of care models within and across justice and health systems;3) conduct research on treatment effectiveness and delivery systems in correctional settings;4) examine strategies to improve workforce skill development;and 5) foster collaboration to advance knowledge exchange, dissemination, and utilization of research among organizations serving substance abusing offenders. We bring a dynamic team with expertise in justice and health systems, and extensive hands-on experience building organizational and systems change through research and technical assistance to policymakers, administrators, clinicians and counselors, supervision officers, and line staff. Our research concepts focus on systemic improvements, primarily in neglected community settings, through workforce skill enhancement and use of quality improvement processes that engages staff as agents of change. The proposed studies are designed to: 1) advance the use of psychometrically sound tools for screening and referring offenders to treatment services;2) increase the use and effectiveness of evidence-based strategies (i.e. motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioral therapy, etc.) through skill development techniques;and 3) strategies for improving the continuum of care for HIV/STI risk reduction and increased testing and treatment for youth and adult offenders. The goal is to help build and enable performance-driven organizational cultures that can cultivate a sustainable continuum of high-quality, empirically-supported services. CJ-DATS 2 will provide a platform for understanding change processes at the individual, programmatic, organizational, and systems level. The diverse research team is capable of conducting research in various sites, as well as to make contributions to the field of science. This study will build on nearly 20 years of partnerships with the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Administrative Office of the Courts (federal), Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, and Virginia Department of Corrections.
The criminal justice system is a service provider for over 8 million adults and nearly 650,000 youth. This set of studies will improve the capacity of the justice system to improve the health and well-being of offenders through the integration of evidence-based practices into daily operations. The emphasis will be on accessing drug treatment, HIV continuum of care, and other services to link justice and community agencies to provide a continuum of care for reentering offenders.
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