Please read Dr. Treitler’s article in JAMA Health Forum titled, “Hospital Use and Mortality Among Decarcerated Individuals With Substance Use Disorder After a Large-scale COVID-19 Emergency Prison Release Program.”
New Jersey enacted the Public Health Emergency Credit Act (PHECA) to reduce virus transmission among incarcerated persons, shortening sentences by up to 8 months for residents of state prisons during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). As a result, New Jersey experienced the largest decrease in its prison population among all states. There were concerns that this mass release would overwhelm reentry services, especially for individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs), who have a high risk of postrelease overdose and acute care use. We examined whether these risks changed during the PHECA period compared with the pre-PHECA period. To read the full article.
Hospital Use and Mortality Among Decarcerated Individuals With Substance Use Disorder After a Large-scale COVID-19 Emergency Prison Release Program. Treitler P, Nowels M, Feder KA, Saloner B, Reeves R, DeBilio L, Crystal S. JAMA Health Forum. 2023 Jun 2;4(6): e231200. PMID: 37266961 PMCID: PMC10238949 DOI: 1001/jamahealthforum.2023.1200