Clinical researcher spotlight
Published on Monday, September 25, 2023
Andrew Voluse, Ph.D.
Can You Describe your current project?
"The focus of the grant, entitled, ‘Evidence-Based Treatment for Rural Intervention Courts (ERIC),’ is on reducing morbidity and mortality of substance use disorders (SUD) and co-occurring mental health disorders (particularly post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) in targeted, high-need, low-resource, rural Mississippi counties. The ERIC project is aimed at improving access to empirically validated mental health screenings, data-driven referrals, and evidenced-based treatment services for adults participating in felony drug court programs, with the ultimate objective of providing participants with the necessary skills to prevent relapse, thus allowing them to become productive members of society and avoid perpetuating the cycle of recidivism. This 4-year, $2 million grant is funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Our goals are to screen all individuals in participating drug courts for mental health diagnoses using a standardized screening battery of psychometrically sound self-report measures. For those who screen positive for either SUD and/or PTSD, we offer time-limited, evidence-based treatment (cognitive behavior therapy for substance use disorders [CBT-SUD] or written exposure therapy [WET], respectively) on an individual basis. Additionally, we offer weekly dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills groups specifically for women participating in the drug courts, as they have been identified as a vulnerable subpopulation. To address the rural nature of the state, all screenings, individual sessions, and groups are exclusively conducted via telehealth, with each drug court receiving through the grant computer equipment and technical support for participants to use if they do not have access to a smart phone or personal computer/laptop or do not have a reliable internet connection. Finally, we provide educational trainings to the drug court staff, supplying them with timely information on important topics in the field (e.g., Medication for Addiction Treatment [MAT])."
What brought you to begin this project?
"Dr. Matt Morris and I saw a lack of resources available to those participating in drug courts, and we wanted to also stop the cycle of recidivism. By finding a grant which focused on rural communities, we were able to bring services to those who need it the most. Immediately prior to writing the grant proposal, we met individually with several of the drug courts, and the feedback we heard was consistent: the rural drug courts simply don’t have enough mental health resources, and the community resources they utilize sometimes have significant wait times and/or the participants can only be seen sporadically (e.g., once a month)."
What has been the impact of this project so far?
"Currently, we have partnered with approximately 37% (7/19) of the eligible rural drug courts throughout the state and are actively in talks to expand to several other eligible judicial courts. Regarding the geographic coverage, we reach North as far as Tate County, East as far as several counties along the Alabama border, South as far as Jackson County, and West as far as Washington County. Additionally, due to demand, we have recently expanded the number of women’s groups we offer per week."
How do you hope to evolve your project?
"As mentioned above, we are in active talks to expand to several other eligible rural judicial courts in the state to expand our reach. As sustainability is one of our main goals, we’d like to demonstrate through the data we’re collecting that this project is effective and impactful in demonstrable ways. Armed with this data, we’d like to continue to partner with the court system and secure funding to expand to non-rural drug courts as well as to the mental health intervention courts (which is the parallel system for those with mental health issues [e.g., bipolar disorder, serious mental illness] who don’t have substance-related charges)."