People With Opioid Addiction In Reentry After Incarceration Report Peer Navigators ‘Crucial’ For First Months In Community

People with opioid use disorder (OUD) reentering their communities after incarceration in a New Jersey state prison said the peer navigator was crucial to their reentry in the first three months, according to interviews with 39 people in reentry. The participants said the peer navigators provided valuable support for emotional and community-based addiction recovery, and for finding housing and employment. However, many also reported that even with the peer navigator’s assistance, structural and policy barriers limited their ability to quickly secure housing and employment.

For this program, the peer health navigators sought to help those in reentry connect . . .