Rachel Crumpler | NC Health News

More court-ordered patients, fewer staffed beds and longer stays have strained a system struggling to keep up with demand for treatment.

After serving more than 11 years behind bars, Kerwin Pittman is transforming a shuttered prison into a campus offering housing, job training and support to people leaving incarceration.

Advocates have pushed for the detention center to reopen since it was closed in 2022. Despite broad agreement that a local facility would be beneficial, staffing challenges are the main barrier.

Sheriffs say stricter pretrial release rules could test capacity, staffing and county budgets.

People leaving North Carolina prisons are far more likely to die of an overdose in their first weeks back home. Prison officials are trying to reduce that risk by providing medications for opioid use disorder before release.

Thirty EMS agencies across North Carolina are approved to administer the addiction medication buprenorphine in the field; their goal is to bridge the gap between overdose and ongoing care.

As the state works to ramp up support for formerly incarcerated people, one nonprofit is hitting the road to fill in gaps and provide on-the-ground support.

Advocates hoped 2023 eligibility changes would increase medical releases. So far, that hasn’t happened.

State officials aim to reduce homelessness among formerly incarcerated people through Reentry 2030 — but safe, affordable housing is one of the biggest barriers to successful reentry.

Unshame NC also aims to increase awareness of life-saving medications used to treat opioid use disorder.