Alaska Recidivism Reduction and Recovery Project

Alaska has the highest recidivism rate and opioid overdose death rate in the nation, particularly among Alaska Native men. The state lacks sufficient community-based treatment infrastructure resulting in significant access to care barriers after reentry. Currently, 92% of all Alaskans returning to incarceration still require substance use disorder treatment. Set Free Alaska’s Alaska Recidivism Reduction and Recovery Project is a comprehensive intervention program addressing the primary risk factors of criminal recidivism within an innovative, community-based therapeutic campus environment. Utilizing the evidence-based Set Free Model, the proposed project is capable of annually housing and serving up to 80 formerly incarcerated adults with co-occurring substance use disorders at high risk for criminal recidivism. Set Free Alaska proposes to scale up its evidence-based therapeutic campus intervention with the goals of increasing critical access to community-based treatment in Alaska, improving participants' quality of life and recovery, and improving public safety by reducing criminal recidivism. Occurring within a four-phase operational framework for an average of 6 to 18 months, participants engage in a suite of services proven to reduce criminal recidivism. These services include certified peer support, supportive housing, co-occurring substance use disorder treatment, medication-assisted treatment, intensive case management, career placement, and positive community reintegration. In a prototype evaluation, the intervention significantly reduced recidivism rates, improved recovery outcomes, and effectively mitigated access to care barriers for marginalized Alaskans who have been historically underserved. To determine the intervention’s feasibility and utility for improving recidivism and recovery outcomes, an evaluation will be conducted by the 61Sixty Social Innovation Lab.