TCU Bridge to Deflection
Study Information
This study aims to better understand the impact of deflection initiatives, meant to turn individuals away from initial or further involvement with the criminal legal system and toward substance use care services in the community, and how these programs affect public health and safety. The study team is examining outcomes like overdose incidents, emergency medical service calls related to substance use, and drug-related arrests. The study tests two different community engagement strategies to improve the implementation of Deflection models: 1. CORE Community Engagement, which involves engaging local stakeholders to promote the Deflection model; and 2. ENHANCED Community Engagement, which includes the CORE components plus additional involvement of community advocates to further improve outcomes. By testing these strategies in diverse locations, the research aims to produce results that can be applied widely and ensure that effective approaches to Deflection initiatives are sustainable in the long term.
Grant number: 1RM1DA064502
Link to NIH Reporter record: https://reporter.nih.gov/search/QdnXJzfUKUatvWRmbdo88Q/project-details/11262073
Study Team
PI: Kevin Knight, Jenny Becan
- Enhance existing deflection efforts as a novel collaborative upstream effort between public safety and health sectors to “deflect” individuals away from initial or further involvement with the CLS and toward substance use care services in the community, intended to reduce overdose deaths, substance use, encounters with EMS, and arrests.
- Create a lasting contribution to the fields of research focused on substance use and the criminal legal system (CLS) by advancing knowledge of effective implementation strategies involving the critical role of community engagement in deflection.
Hybrid Type 3 Implementation Research