S. 5543: Supporting Treatment and Recovery Over Narcotics for Growth, Empowerment, and Rehabilitation Act

This bill would reauthorize and update a federal grant program that helps prisons and jails provide residential treatment for people with substance use disorders.

What the bill changes

• It renames references in the law from “substance abuse” to “substance use disorder”, which is the term the bill uses throughout.
• It keeps the existing federal program for residential treatment in correctional settings, but updates it to reflect current treatment practices.
• It specifically allows these programs to use medication-assisted treatment, including medications or biological products that are approved or licensed under federal drug laws.
• It says these residential programs should expand to use at least one approved medication or treatment for substance use disorders.

Requirements for prisons and jails receiving funds

If a prison or jail receives money under this program, the chief medical officer or other responsible staff would have to complete training on topics such as:

• the science of addiction;
• current research and clinical guidance for detox and withdrawal management;
• how to provide treatment in criminal justice settings;
• how to keep care going during and after incarceration;
• the medications available to treat substance use disorders;
• how to become an opioid treatment provider or qualify to prescribe certain medications;
• behavioral therapies that support medication treatment; and
• other topics the Attorney General, with health officials, determines are important.

The training would also need to cover how to work with stakeholders, identify resources and barriers, and develop plans to overcome obstacles to offering medication-assisted treatment.

Facilities that offer medication-assisted treatment would also need to have an affiliation with a provider that can:

• prescribe at least one medication for patients after release; and
• discuss the risks, benefits, and alternatives to medication-assisted treatment.

How the money would be used

• States would have to send at least 10% of their grant funds to local correctional and detention facilities, if such facilities exist in the state.
• Jail-based treatment programs could be offered to people who are awaiting trial, in pretrial detention, or serving a jail sentence.
• States could use the funds to provide approved medications, overdose-reversal medications, training costs, and steps needed to become an opioid treatment provider or to prescribe treatment medications.

Funding

The bill would authorize $40 million per year for fiscal years 2027 through 2031 for this program.

Program definition

The bill defines a “residential substance use disorder treatment program” as a comprehensive treatment program in a residential facility that, as much as practicable, follows Bureau of Justice Assistance guidance from 2017 or updated standards of care.

Relevant Companies

None found