Current Projects
Supporting Incarcerated Parents and Their Families – A Collaborative, Community-Engaged Approach
Supported by funding from the New Jersey Health Foundation and the Rutgers – Camden Division of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement Urban Innovation Fund, this project utilizes publicly engaged scholarship to rethink the institutional relationships between Rutgers-Camden, the Camden County Correctional Facility (CCCF), and the surrounding community of children and families. We do this by 1) Integrating and communicating local knowledge regarding the experiences and needs of families with incarcerated parents at CCCF to jail officials in a systematic way; 2) Improving visiting experiences for children and families with incarcerated parents; 3) Providing resources to strengthen family bonds to incarcerated parents and the caregivers caring for their children both during incarceration and upon release; and 4) Creating sustainable training models for correctional staff to recognize and understand the dignity of incarcerated parents and their specific strengths and challenges.
Improving Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Retention After Release From Incarceration
Recently incarcerated individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) carry a higher risk of opioid overdose death within the first few weeks after release compared to the general population. While medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), including buprenorphine and methadone, are the most effective OUD treatment, relatively few justice-referred individuals receive treatment post-release. Sponsored by the South Jersey Institute for Population Health, this collaborative project among Cooper Health, Rowan and Rutgers University faculty uses a mixed-methods design to (a) evaluate which socioeconomic, medical, and cultural factors are associated with post-release treatment visit attendance and (b) explore barriers, facilitators, and recommendations related to treatment engagement after release from incarceration using a convergent mixed-methods design