The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are collaborating on a project aimed at developing educational resources for justice professionals about harm reduction strategies to reduce overdose deaths. This project, supported by BJA’s Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program, is focused on understanding the needs of justice professionals in approaching harm reduction efforts and strengthening partnerships among public health and public safety professionals and organizations to enhance the provision of services to and outcomes for individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs).
To help inform this project and the development of resources, we are seeking to speak with experts and stakeholders across the justice continuum to learn more about how professionals in the field think about harm reduction strategies to support persons with SUDs and specifically how and if they can be implemented in your work. We recognize the implementation of harm reduction programs is unique to each community, and our goal is to identify the knowledge gaps, challenges, barriers, lessons learned, and promising practices that we need to consider from a justice practitioner’s perspective as we pursue this project.
We would like to hear the perspectives of those working in the justice system who have direct experience collaborating with public health, harm reduction organizations, and/or substance use treatment partners. We will be scheduling virtual focus groups in January and expect each session to last no more than 90 minutes. If you are a justice professional (e.g., law enforcement, prosecution, defense, court, jails, community supervision) and are interested in participating in a focus group to share your experiences, please submit your contact information via the link below no later than December 19, 2022.