Given the devastating effects of the opioid crisis and the growing support for both the drug court model and medication assisted treatments (MAT), the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) along with the Supreme Court of Ohio as well as other State agencies and certified drug courts designed an innovative program to provide addiction treatment, including MAT, to non-violent adult offenders with opioid use disorder, alcohol use disorder, or both who are entering drug courts throughout the state. In 2016, the Ohio Legislature invested an additional $11 million to sustain and expand the programming.
This report details outcomes from a one-year mixed-methods evaluation of this novel, empirically-based State-funded initiative conducted within 25 drug courts across 13 Ohio counties. The primary goals of the evaluation were to examine the effectiveness of providing MAT to drug court participants on multidimensional client outcomes, identify obstacles and barriers to program implementation and sustainability, and to determine the cost savings and efficiency associated with the programs.