For more than 30 years, Advocates for Human Potential, Inc., (AHP) has worked passionately to improve health systems and business operations through research and evaluation, training and technical assistance (TTA), and professional consulting, with the goal of helping organizations and individuals reach their full potential. Learn more at www.ahpnet.com.  

AHP brings to our criminal justice work extensive expertise in addressing substance use disorders (SUDs) and opioid use disorder (OUD) among uniquely vulnerable populations. We understand the multifaceted needs of people with co-occurring disorders, including veterans, people experiencing homelessness, families, youth, people with trauma, and individuals with mental health disorders or developmental disabilities.  

AHP has worked with clients from national, state, and local jurisdictions and in law enforcement, courts, and institutional and community corrections. We help clients solve issues spanning all criminal justice intercept points, from drug courts to incarceration and from reentry to aftercare. Our staff are experts in SUDs, mental health, medication-assisted treatment (MAT), trauma-informed care, and more.  

AHP contributes to developing best practices for providers serving the criminal justice population. AHP is a pioneer in promoting health literacy for criminal-justice involved populations, and our manual on the subject (“Health Literacy for Criminal Justice Populations”) was recently updated with a section on COVID-19.  

We are leading experts in MAT. AHP drafted “Jail-Based Medication-Assisted Treatment,” which became a national model when it was adapted and adopted by the National Sheriffs’ Association and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care. AHP produced the first video to highlight prison MAT, which the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy distributed to every corrections commissioner in the country. AHP also drafted the first national standards for prison and jail drug treatment programs promulgated by the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). 

AHP’s experienced staff of TTA providers, researchers, evaluators, and subject matter experts offer significant experience, including: 

• Providing on- and off-site TTA to state and local justice professionals on effective policy reform and program design to contain costs and address critical needs.  
• Maximizing safe pre-arrest, pretrial, and court and correctional diversion efforts using evidence-based, state-of-the-art programming. 
• Ensuring treatment programs conform to the current standards of care and are responsive to diverse justice-involved populations in custody and community settings, including veterans, pregnant women, individuals with mental health disorders and SUDs, people with co-occurring disorders, and those with chronic medical conditions. 
• Designing metrics and evaluating programs and practices that provide ongoing feedback for continuous quality control and improvement to justify expenditures and dedicated resources. 
• Expanding connections with housing and employment services, mental illness and addiction treatment providers, health care, and an array of community recovery supports.