Maine’s jails are required to provide treatment for addiction to incarcerated people in their custody. Maine Monitor health care reporter Emily Bader spent the past year examining what this treatment looks like, how it is funded, and how in some cases it extends beyond the jails’ walls.
Bader spoke to more than 50 county officials, sheriffs, jail administrators, health experts, community advocates, and incarcerated people; visited multiple jails and recovery centers; filed dozens of records requests; and reviewed hundreds of pages of documents.
Her resulting four-part series examines how Maine jails came to be some of the largest addiction treatment providers in the state, and how the facilities can serve as a pivotal point of public health.
The first story in her series looks at two rural jails that have started providing monthly shots to treat opioid use disorder and have seen promising results, and how this compares to the treatment offered at the other jails. Her second story documents the case of one woman’s recovery journey—which she credits a jail treatment program with starting. The third story looks at how jails are struggling to keep up with rising medical costs. And the fourth looks at what happens after people leave the jails.
