PL02 – Middle Plenary Session: A Continuum of Care: The Criminal Justice Role in Treatment

Moderator(s)

• • 

    Paul Samuels, JD

    Director/President
    Legal Action Center

    Disclosure: Nothing to disclose

Keynote Speaker(s)

• 

  Brent Gibson, MD, MPH, FACPM, CCHP-P

  Chief Health Officer
  National Commission on Correctional Health Care
• 

  Dennis Lemma, Masters

  Sheriff
  Seminole County Sheriff’s Office
• 

  Jeri Cohen, JD

  Circuit Court Judge
  11th Judicial Circuit

  Disclosure: Nothing to disclose

The conference theme, Out of the Shadows: Managing the Opioid Epidemic through the Continuum of Care acknowledges that we must all work together from law enforcement, judges and the correctional departments in order to fully address the opioid epidemic. This plenary, moderated by Paul Samuels, Director/President of the Legal Action Center will focus on the different roles each play and how they are working together with treatment providers to combat this epidemic. Dr. Brent Gibson will discuss changes to the correctional system that now allow access to medications and treatment while still incarcerated. Dr. Gibson will discuss how these opportunities help engage the individual which in turn promotes greater success since they are more likely to follow up with care upon release from jail. Sheriff Dennis Lemma will discuss the role of law enforcement and how changing the perspective of officers in dealing with this crisis leads to the beginning stages of acceptance and treatment. Sheriff Lemma will discuss his work as Chair of the Attorney General of Florida’s Opioid Task Force, which is addressing increasing treatment options, slowing the flow of drugs into the state and prevention options. Judge Jeri Cohen will address the state of affairs in the criminal justice field and the impact Drug Courts can have on compliance in treatment. Judge Cohen will discuss her pioneering work in Miami that has helped shape other drug courts around the United States in accepting OTP options. This plenary will highlight the different roles each of these individuals plays, how our worlds intertwine, and that we must work together through the continuum of care for maximum success.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe how the role of Correctional Health Care is evolving to deal with the opioid crisis and changes being advanced within correctional facilities;
• Discuss how law enforcement is teaming with the community and has gained an understanding that incarceration alone will not lead us out of the opioid crisis; and
• Describe how the 11th Judicial Circuit has embraced the use of the three FDA approved medications and work closely with OTPs