Preventing Overdose and Promoting Recovery Through Court Navigation (POPCORN)

July 10, 2026 updated by: Bradley Ray, RTI International

Hybrid Type I Trial of a Peer-Led Court Navigation Program to Improve Substance Use Disorder Treatment Receipt and Reduce Overdose and Incarceration Among People Passing Through Courthouses

This project is a hybrid type I clinical trial to assess the effectiveness and implementation determinants of a peer-led court navigation program for people who use drugs and are passing through county courthouses. Courthouses are a common point of contact for people with behavioral health needs, but outside of specialty court models, they remain underexplored as a setting for connecting people to substance use disorder treatment and related services. This study will test whether court navigation led by peer recovery specialists can increase receipt of substance use disorder treatment and reduce overdose and incarceration. Peer court navigators will meet with participants in courthouse settings, assess their needs, provide information and referrals, and offer follow-up support for up to 3 months. Peer recovery specialists, who have lived experience with substance use recovery, are increasingly being integrated into criminal legal and community-based settings; however, peer-led court navigation remains an innovative and understudied approach.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

600

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Indiana
      • South Bend, Indiana, United States, 46601
        • St. Joseph County Courthouse 1
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
    • North Carolina
      • Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, United States, 27709
        • RTI International
        • Contact:
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Aged 18 years or older
  • Current resident of Indiana
  • Able to complete study procedures in English
  • Meets at least one of the following criteria: used heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine, or cocaine in the past 12 months; is interested in resources or treatment for a substance use disorder; or experienced an opioid-related overdose in the past 12 months

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Has been sentenced to incarceration in jail or prison for the next 12 months

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Peer court navigation
CourtConnect is the intervention. It connects individuals in courthouses with peer court navigators who provide information, referrals, and support to address substance use disorder treatment needs and related health and social needs. Navigation begins in the courthouse and continues in the community through follow-up support for up to 3 months.
Behavioral: CourtConnect
CourtConnect connects individuals in courthouses with peer court navigators who provide information, referrals, and support to address substance use disorder treatment needs and related health and social needs. Navigation begins in the courthouse and continues in the community through follow-up support for up to 3 months.
Active Comparator: Information only
Participants assigned to the information-only group receive information about health and social services in the community from a non-peer research assistant. They do not receive peer court navigation or follow-up support from a peer court navigator.
Other: Information Only
Participants assigned to the information-only group receive information about health and social services in the community from a non-peer research assistant. They do not receive peer court navigation or follow-up support from a peer court navigator.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Administratively documented substance use disorder treatment engagement
Time Frame: 90 days after baseline
This participant-level outcome will indicate whether a participant has any administratively documented substance use disorder treatment engagement within 90 days after baseline. Treatment engagement will be determined from linked state administrative records, including Medicaid claims for substance use disorder treatment services and prescription drug monitoring program records showing dispensed medications used to treat substance use disorder. For participants without administratively documented substance use disorder treatment during the 90 days before baseline, a qualifying post-baseline record will be classified as treatment initiation. For participants with administratively documented substance use disorder treatment during the 90 days before baseline, a qualifying post-baseline record will be classified as continued treatment engagement. The outcome will be reported as the proportion of participants in each study arm with administratively documented treatment engagement.
90 days after baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of participants with a fatal or nonfatal overdose
Time Frame: 12 months after baseline
Fatal and nonfatal overdose will be measured using statewide vital records and emergency medical records from ambulance services and hospital emergency departments. Participants will be classified as having experienced an overdose if records show a fatal overdose or an encounter for a nonfatal overdose during the 12 months after baseline.
12 months after baseline
Number of participants with a jail booking or prison entry
Time Frame: 12 months after baseline
Incarceration through jail booking or prison entry will be measured using statewide criminal legal records. Participants will be classified as having experienced incarceration if records show a booking into a jail facility or entry into the state prison system during the 12 months after baseline.
12 months after baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

RTI International

Collaborators

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

October 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2030

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 3, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 10, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 14, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 14, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 10, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R01DA064492 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

The investigators will enroll 600 subjects over 24 months with 12 months of follow-up data by linking administrative records (e.g., prescription fills, emergency department/emergency medical services encounters, mortality, arrests/jail bookings) to survey contents that will include demographics, substance use disorder and treatment history, criminal legal system involvement, social constructs (self-efficacy, motivation, stigma), and harmonized measures. The National Institutes of Health requires that the study team release study data. The investigators will preserve and share de-identified survey datasets (with codebooks), and project documentation (protocols, instruments); derived variables from linked administrative data will be shared, while raw state administrative source files obtained under data use agreements will not be shared. The publicly released scientific data will include only fully de-identified data.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

IPD and additional supporting information will be archived in the National Addiction & HIV Data Archive Program (NAHDAP), assigned persistent identifiers, and made available as soon as possible and no later than the earlier of the primary publication or the end of the performance period, whichever comes first.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

After project completion, only de-identified datasets will be made available as public-use files and deposited in repositories for broader research, teaching, replication. Shared data will be provided in open, non-proprietary formats, along with parallel Stata/R scripts and a README so that no specialized software is required to access or manipulate the data. Publicly shared datasets will receive a DOI to facilitate sharing, citation, and version control. Access will be controlled when there is any non-trivial re-identification risk or when required by data use agreements. In those cases, repositories will gate access under standard data use agreements that prohibit re-identification and onward sharing, require secure storage and destruction at project end, and log requestor credentials and approved uses. Raw state administrative source files received under data use agreements will not be shared; only de-identified, derived variables constructed from those sources will be deposited.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Substance Use Disorder (SUD)

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Australia

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

3
Subscribe