Milwaukee Prostitution and Opioid Diversion Project

The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) Program is the first major federal substance use disorder treatment and recovery legislation in 40 years and the most comprehensive effort to address the opioid epidemic. CARA establishes a comprehensive, coordinated, and balanced strategy through enhanced grant programs that expand prevention and education efforts while also promoting treatment and recovery. The Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-based program was developed as part of the CARA legislation signed into law on July 22, 2016.

The Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-based Program aims to reduce opioid abuse and the number of overdose fatalities, as well as to mitigate the impacts on crime victims. The program also supports the implementation, enhancement, and proactive use of prescription drug monitoring programs to support clinical decision making and prevent the abuse and diversion of controlled substances.

The System-level Diversion Projects category projects must demonstrate a commitment to establish effective diversion programs for offenders who abuse illicit or prescription opioids. Projects may support pretrial diversion, court-based diversion programs (other than drug courts or Veterans treatment courts), community-based supervision, corrections programs, and/or reentry programs.

The Milwaukee Prostitution and Opioid Diversion Project (MPOD) will establish a public health and justice partnership to address the unique needs of women in street prostitution and sex trafficking who abuse illicit or prescription opioids (and other drugs) and frequently come into contact with the justice system for prostitution or drug-related arrests or as victims of sex trafficking. MPOD will enhance service capacity in the current Sisters Diversion Project, a municipal pre-arrest prostitution diversion program, building on the pre-existing partnership between the Milwaukee Police Department, Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division, Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, local treatment agencies and the Medical College of Wisconsin; and enhance coordination and services for women in the Milwaukee County’s Early Interventions Program (specifically, its pretrial diversion program). MPOD will engage the Medical College of Wisconsin as the research partner for this project.

CA/NCF