Mapping an Opioid Overdose Prevention Program from Jail to Community

Issues: The Opioid Overdose Prevention Program implemented at the Visitor’s Center on Riker’s Island in New York City (NYC) addresses the need of opioid overdose awareness and prevention in under-served communities. Previously incarcerated individuals are 129 times more likely to die of an opioid overdose death in NYC, when compared to all opioid users.

Description:Those visiting people detained at Riker’s Island are trained to correctly identify an overdose, respond appropriately, and administer an opioid antagonist nasal spray. Upon leaving, visitors are offered a free kit including two doses of a generic antagonist spray. All recipients of the overdose prevention kit provide basic demographic data including zip code.  The goal of this evaluation was to determine whether the overdose prevention kits are successfully reaching NYC communities with the highest rates of reported opioid overdoses, concentrated poverty (>45,000 individuals living below the federal poverty level), and formerly incarcerated individuals.

Lessons Learned: Results suggest that a high number of kits are being distributed within these communities: 34.6% of kits went to neighborhoods with above-average opioid overdose reports, 22.4% to neighborhoods with the highest rates of residentsre-entering from incarceration, and 15.1% to areas with the highest poverty rates.  

Recommendations: These initial findings indicate that distributing health education and overdose prevention material at a jail setting can directly target under-served populations. Health policies that include correctional settings have great potential for impacting community health, engaging with visitors and preparing residents for community life.