Success Through Collaboration: New Hanover County, North Carolina, Sheriff’s Office and Community Services Provider Coastal Horizons Tackle the Opioid Epidemic Together

• NCJ Number: 307341
• Date Published: June 2023
• Length: 4 pages
• Agencies: BJA-Sponsored

Annotation

This paper details a coloration between the New Hanover County, North Carolina, sheriff’s office and the nonprofit community services provider Coastal Horizons to close a gap in services for those struggling with substance use disorders (SUDs) through the ReEntry Systems for Effective Treatment (RESET) program.

Abstract

In the wake of a devastating opioid epidemic and the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, law enforcement agencies find themselves collaborating more and more with public health agencies. The New Hanover County, North Carolina, Sheriff’s Office, in collaboration with its local mental health partner, Coastal Horizons, became aware of the gap in services for those struggling with substance use disorders (SUDs). Together, the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office and Coastal Horizons, a private nonprofit human services organization in North Carolina, then launched the ReEntry Systems for Effective Treatment (RESET) program, a unique reentry program was developed through funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA) Fiscal Year 2014 Second Chance Act Reentry Program for Adults With Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Disorders. Originally, the project aimed to address treatment service gaps for females returning to New Hanover County following incarceration. Over time, and as they continued to identify community needs, project stakeholders began incorporating improvements into the program. In 2018, RESET received funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to expand services not only to meet the needs of participants but to include males returning to the community following a period of incarceration within the local detention center. The long-standing relationships that Coastal Horizons formed with the New Hanover County Detention Center (local jail) led to this successful collaboration, which began in 2014. A key component of RESET involves allowing program staff access to participants while they are housed in the facility. Staff members are able to screen and assess individuals and provide ongoing case management and group services to participants inside the detention center.