National Team Chooses Innovation Sites to Lead the Way in Rural Justice Programs.

• Author: Kunkel, Tara
• Position: National Rural Justice Collaborative Advisory Council

The National Rural Justice Collaborative Advisory Council recently selected nine of the most impactful rural justice programs in America and will help them share their strengths nationwide. Until now, rural communities have mostly followed urban justice models. This has led to an incredible inequality with rural citizens more likely to be jailed and lack access to mental health treatment. Prosecutors often bear a heavy burden when they determine which outcome to seek for individuals with substance abuse or mental health issues. As prosecutor-led diversion makes headway, now prosecutors in rural areas will have more resources to keep the people who need treatment out of jail. This solution benefits everyone in the community.

Opioid use disorders and overdose deaths are much more prevalent in rural areas than their urban and suburban counterparts due to the specific challenges affecting rural communities. Among the difficulties are those related to access to substance use treatment, such as limited transportation with increased distances to travel and fewer treatment options and providers. "The programs and methods developed from large courts are often not models for rural courts, because they do not always account for the geographic barriers in rural areas, or resonate with key aspects of rural culture," said Jonathan Mattiello, Executive Director of the State Justice Institute (SJI). Without rural-specific solutions, these difficulties have become obstructions to justice. However, some rural communities also have identifiable strengths to face these problems, which help every resident in each community.

The Rural Justice Collaborative (RJC) includes Sheriffs, community supervision officers, judges, and treatment experts that have come together to show how collaboration between different types of practitioners initiates real change in rural communities. They will select additional rural Innovation Sites in the next two years. However, among the nine Innovation Sites they chose so far, there are two that work to resolve the issue of substance abuse and mental health treatment access.

Lazarus Recovery Services operates in 10 North Carolina counties to deliver prevention and recovery support services. To foster better access, they are frequently at hand in courtrooms, courthouse parking lots, or elsewhere. With specifically modified vehicles, the program created mobile clinics with a range of on-site services available, such as intake...