This is a report from the SAFE Project and the Police, Treatment, and Community Collaborative that highlights law enforcement diversion models to address the opioid crisis, such as self-referrals to treatment with police departments as entry points, active outreach, overdose education and naloxone distribution, and law enforcement-initiated treatment engagement. Several program models are discussed within this document.

This report details the lived experiences of individuals with an Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) in order to give a better understanding of the barriers to treatment that exist within Massachusetts. A few of the barriers discussed in the report include racially inequitable access to treatment, lack of transitional support, absence of OUD treatment in correctional facilities, and stigma. The authors make recommendations on policy pathways that can minimize these barriers. 

This is a website that provides summary documents on how pharmacists are responding to the opioid crisis, including preventing opioid misuse, increasing access to medications of opioid use disorder, and providing harm reduction services. These documents describe success stories as well as clinical and systemic barriers faced by pharmacists. 

This is a report from the Urban Institute that provides an overview of the role Maine's Medicaid program is playing and could play in addressing Maine’s opioid crisis and substance use disorders (SUDs) more broadly, in the context of the recent expansion of Medicaid.

This analysis consisted of an expedited review of available public information and data, key informant interviews, and evaluating promising Medicaid initiatives implemented elsewhere to inform Maine’s policy debate over effective strategies to address the opioid crisis and SUDs. Ten state policy options are recommended within this document. 

This report displays how geography and health insurance coverage rather than medical need, determine a patient's access to opioid treatment programs (OTP). These OTPs are the only healthcare facilities that provide all three forms of medication for opioid use disorder, however the report highlights the major disparities in access to these based on state. 

This report outlines how to maximize opportunities for linkage to care already present in our current healthcare system. These recommendations offer guidance on how to develop and implement effective linkage to care strategies for healthcare professionals and other community leaders in public health, education, criminal justice, social services, business, and government. The aim of this document is to provide the tools to these entities to increase access and linkage to medications for opioid use disorder. 

This systematic review characterizes the existing experimental, quasi-experimental, single- and multi-group prospective and retrospective, and cross-sectional research on peer recovery support services.

Findings to date tentatively speak to the potential of peer supports across a number of SUD treatment settings, as evidenced by positive findings on measures including reduced substance use and SUD relapse rates, improved relationships with treatment providers and social supports, increased treatment retention, and greater treatment satisfaction.

This report from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) summarizes the results of an environmental scan of 198 local health departments (LHD) regarding their local opioid overdose prevention and response activities.

This document outlines and compares statistics by the size of the population the LHD serves. In addition, the report discusses efforts and activities related to workforce, clinical and programmatic services, policy, communication, partnership, and data collection. Stories from the field are also included. 

This is an academic paper that uses a survey of county governments to determine what opioid policy and programmatic activities local governments are implementing and which activities are more challenging to implement. Having police officers carry naloxone and establishing a task force of community leaders were easier to implement, and establishing needle exchanges and allowing arrest alternatives for opioid offenses were more challenging to implement. 

This is a report which discusses the current barriers to OUD treatment as well as the low threshold approach, the evidence of its effectiveness, and possible future areas for research. The low threshold approach described in this report include a push for same day treatment entry and medication access, an approach for harm reduction, and a wider availability for treatment in areas with a higher concentration of individuals with OUD. 

This is an academic paper that summarizes the evidence on using medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in adolescents, with a focus on buprenorphine and extended-release naltrexone. There is discussion on how to appropriately integrate MOUD into a primary care setting for youth. 

This is a report that guides communities on effectively using potential opioid settlement money. There is specific focus on how communities can successfully invest one-time resources in sustainable, evidence-based early intervention, treatment, and recovery services.