The Yale University JCOIN Research Center is studying whether the Transitions Clinic Network (TCN) program, which provides enhanced primary care and OUD treatment for people recently released from incarceration, improves services along the opioid treatment cascade. In TCN, formerly incarcerated community health workers are embedded within primary care teams and address social determinants of OUD, provide social support, help patients build trust in the health system, and advocate in interactions with the criminal justice system.
The intervention provides both a primary care home and support for a variety of important social needs (including housing, food access, and social support) as individuals re-enter the community. Individuals will be recruited from six jails in Connecticut, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, and Puerto Rico.
Study Settings: Jails/Prisons, Treatment/Healthcare Settings
Study Locations: Connecticut, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Puerto Rico
Publications:
- COVID-19 in Puerto Rico: Preliminary observations on social distancing and societal response toward a novel health stressor (2020)
- Association of census tract-level incarceration rate and life expectancy in New York State (2021)
- COVID-19 in corrections: Quarantine of incarcerated people (2021)
- The Transitions Clinic Network: Post Incarceration Addiction Treatment, Healthcare, and Social Support (TCN-PATHS): A hybrid type-1 effectiveness trial of enhanced primary care to improve opioid use disorder treatment outcomes following release from jail (2021)
- Effectiveness of interventions to reduce COVID-19 transmission in a large urban jail: a model-based analysis (2021)
- Cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the Substance Abuse Self-Stigma Scale among Latinos with substance use disorders: An effective screening tool for correctional and community settings (2022)
- Measuring Psychological Flexibility: The Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of the AAQ for Substance Abuse among Spanish Speaking Population in Correctional and Community settings (2022)
Study Team
PI/MPI:
Emily Wang, MD, MAS
Yale University School of Medicine
Health Agency Partner:
Tyler Booth, LCSW
InterCommunity Health Care
Justice Agency Partner:
Kathleen Maurer
Connecticut Department of Corrections
• Compare the effectiveness of TCN to standard primary care for individuals with OUD
• Measure impacts on MOUD initiation, engagement, and retention
• Measure outcomes including opioid use, overdose, healthcare utilization, and recidivism
• Estimate the cost and cost effectiveness of the TCN model
• Identify barriers and facilitators to helping individuals transition into TCN services
Clinical Trial, Linkage Strategies