Strategies

Use specialized courts to offer criminal offenders with drug dependency problems an alternative to adjudication or incarceration

Use specialized courts to work with parents involved in the child welfare system who may lose custody of their children due to substance abuse

Provide outreach and support to assist those whose employers do not offer affordable coverage, who are self-employed, or who are unemployed

Increase patients’ health-related knowledge via efforts to simplify health education materials, improve patient-provider communication, and increase overall literacy

Provide medications such as methadone to individuals diagnosed with opioid use disorder in outpatient, residential, and hospital settings, usually with counseling and behavioral therapies; often called MAT

Regulate mental health insurance to increase access to mental health services, including treatment for substance use disorders

Establish transportation services for areas with low population densities using publicly funded buses and vans on a set schedule, dial-a-ride transit, volunteer ridesharing, etc.

Provide sterile injection equipment and often other treatment and referral services to people who inject drugs; also called needle or syringe exchange programs and needle syringe programs