JCOIN Phase II Coordination and Translation Center

George Mason University, Fairfax VA

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

Individuals involved in the criminal legal system (CLS) are at greater risk for overdose than the general public. This renewal proposal is for the JCOIN 2.0 Coordination and Translation Center (CTC), designed to advance use of scientific knowledge on effective policies, practices, and programs in legal, community, and/or health settings. The proposed CTC team successfully established and executed the JCOIN 1.0 CTC. Core leaders in health-legal research and practice disciplines include Faye S. Taxman, Amy Murphy, and Judith Wilde (Mason), Jessica Hulsey (Addiction Policy Forum), Danielle S. Rudes (Sam Houston State University), Todd Molfenter (University of Wisconsin-Madison), and Carrie Pettus (Wellbeing & Evaluation Innovations). Our expertise covers the legal system including deflection (Taxman, Pettus, Henderson); pretrial, courts and adjudication (Taxman, Pettus, Murphy, Wilde); institutional corrections and jails (Taxman, Rudes, Pettus, Molfenter); community corrections (Taxman, Rudes, Pettus, Murphy, Molfenter); policing (Taxman); prosecution and defense (Pettus); community treatment (all), to name a few. The team is committed scholars and practitioners with diverse disciplines and geography. The CTC goals are: Aim 1: Dissemination to reduce the translational gap in legal- health-community organizations; Aim 2: Meaningful stakeholder engagement and collaboration; Aim 3: Expanded outreach and capacity building to workforce, students, practitioners, community organizations; and Aim 4: Implementation to reduce the translational gap. In JCOIN 1.0, this CTC engaged researchers, practitioners, and families to access research that can improve the delivery of prevention and treatment policies, practices, and programs. We had many successes including a website with over 240,000 page views, 65 original eCourses and webinars that reached over 6,300 course enrollments, and four seasons of the Aced It podcast with 11,000 downloads. In JCOIN 2.0, the CTC will further efforts aimed at conducting outreach, disseminating information, co-production with stakeholders of materials and products, conducting spread and scale-up studies, funding 14 grants, and developing the workforce and early career researchers on JCOIN-related studies. Innovations include adding to the External Advisory Panels; translating JCOIN-related research findings into actionable steps, testing the Implementation Translation Spread and Scale-Up (I-TranSS) framework in five or more low-cost studies, funding 14 grantees, expanding LEAP to 40 scholars and 40 investigators, providing TA to fulfill 100 requests or more, expanding JTEC for target audiences, and prioritizing health as part of translation, dissemination, and implementation efforts. The CTC is energized to set new records on translation and dissemination to health and justice audiences and impact the uptake and penetration of JCOIN and other HEAL- funded studies into everyday practice. There are minor changes to the aims to ensure compliance with 2025 Executive Orders.