Police Pathways to Addiction Treatment, Health, and Safety: The Police PATHS Study

Study Information

Police interactions with people who use drugs (PWUD) can lead to arrests for minor offenses, which can increase the risk of overdose and result in other adverse health outcomes for individuals. Police-assisted diversion (PAD) offers an alternative to arrest by connecting people to treatment and services, including medication for opioid use disorder. PAD aims to reduce overdose risks, improve health, and address the issues driving unlawful behavior. The study uses interviews with police, PAD clients, and providers in both cities to map the implementation of PAD, to identify factors that influenced its success or failure, and to assess the impact of PAD on access to opioid disorder medications and health outcomes using data from PWUD, comparing those who did and did not participate in PAD. The study also evaluates the economic viability of PAD versus the usual criminal justice approach.

Grant number: 1R01DA064512

Link to NIH Reporter record: https://reporter.nih.gov/search/tGBG4zo0LECp2oVRFGEqVw/project-details/11262452

Study Team

PI: Brandon del Pozo, Evan Anderson, Javier Cepeda, Saba Rouhani

Study Aims

  • Construct retrospective-implementation-research-logic models for each site to identify implementation determinants, de-facto strategies, and mechanisms influencing outcomes including feasibility, acceptability, appropriateness, fidelity, and sustainability
  • Evaluate PAD’s effectiveness in Philadelphia as the entry point of a continuum of care (e.g., linkage, short, and long-term retention) and its health outcomes (e.g., overdose, emergency department utilization, and xylazine wound care), using a quasi-experimental analysis of linked administrative data from PWUD eligible for PAD who are, and are not, enrolled
  • Evaluate the cost-effectiveness of PAD in Philadelphia compared to arrest, drug court, and probation by using data from cohorts of PAD and non-PAD individuals to parameterize a health state transition model and estimate the incremental cost effectiveness ratio of PAD versus routine arrest to assess the value for money of PAD, to inform evidence-based decision-making. ​

Research Type

Mixed Methods, Implementation, Quasi-experimental analysis of administrative data