Selected Work
A mixed method study exploring African American, Black, Hispanic and/or Latino/a/x Adult Drug Court participants’ and their providers’ (judicial, clinical, and community) perspectives on multilevel factors impacting equitable implementation of a co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder (COD) intervention embedded within four Massachusetts’ Adult Drug Courts; gathering community-generated strategies to address identified barriers; and partnering with a community advisory board to co-develop an equity informed implementation toolkit to advance equitable implementation of COD interventions in Drug Courts.
Advancing Behavioral Health Equity in Adult Drug Courts
A mixed method evaluation of a co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder (COD) intervention, called Maintaining Independence and Sobriety through Systems Integration, Outreach and Networking-Criminal Justice (MISSION-CJ) being implemented in the Springfield Drug Court. MISSION-CJ provides case management, peer support, COD counseling, and care linkage and coordination to recovery and wraparound supports, including Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), employment, and housing supports. This MISSION project is also pilot testing Empowering Prosocial Change, a brief intervention co-developed by Dr. Gaba, to support participants in reducing recidivism risk factors.
MISSION Springfield
This project adapts and tests an existing efficacious COD treatment and wrap around support intervention, called MISSION, to meet the needs of families in a rural Family Drug Court in Western Massachusetts. Our mixed methods evaluation is assessing the impact of the intervention of recovering parents’ and child/family well-being and functioning.
MISSION Hope
A community engagement intervention development pilot project to inform the development of culturally tailored intervention to dually address cardiovascular disease risk and COD among Black/African American men with criminal legal system involvement.