Graduation Year

2021

Graduation Month

May

Document Type

Thesis

Faculty Mentor Department

History

Faculty Mentor

Tobin Shearer

Keywords

opioid, drug, rehabilitation, treatment, recidivism

Abstract

Despite spending more than any other county on incarceration and reentry programs, the United States continues to have some of the highest rates of reincarceration. Programs designed to teach inmates job skills, GED programs, and new Medicaid measures have proved moderately successful for reducing recidivism among certain offenders, but one class continues to suffer high recidivism rates. People imprisoned for opioid drug use are more likely to reoffend than any other group, but very few governments in different countries around the world have allotted the resources to establish effective treatment facilities, creating a cycle very few can escape. This project aims to secure funding from the Montana state government to implement Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid drug use in Montana prisons.

MAT is a treatment plan that would reduce recidivism rates in Montana in an effective way. With this treatment plan, hopefully opioid users will be able to effectively help reduce recidivism and drug rates by using medical assisted treatment. During the 2021 legislative session, our group lobbied members of the Montana state government through phone calls, emails, and social media to secure support for a bill that provides funding for MAT treatment in prisons. We are a student group from the University of Montana that is a part of the Global Initiative program on campus. We are hoping to accomplish action on the issue of opioid use in the state and help reduce recidivism with this medical assisted treatment plan.

Honors College Research Project

1

GLI Capstone Project

yes

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© Copyright 2021 Asia Chhon, Taylor Hill, Mason Hutchinson, Kian Speck, and Alex Whaples