A national TCU research project aimed at implementing initiatives that help drug users minimize potential imprisonment received a $7.2 million federal grant.
Officials announced Oct. 10 that Texas Christian University’s BRIDGE to Deflection Project received a five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health.
The project focuses on “deflection” approaches in 20 communities across the country that redirect people toward community-based services prior to potential incarceration.
The project started in September and will work with first responders and behavioral health providers in communities spanning New Mexico, Illinois, Wisconsin, Colorado and Pennsylvania.
“We expect the study to deepen understanding of how deflection improves outcomes for people who use drugs and to inform best practices for communities nationwide,” Jenny Becan, a senior research scientist at TCU’s Institute for Behavioral Health, said in a press release.
The BRIDGE — which stands for building resilient initiatives for deflection through greater engagement — to Deflection Project is a continuation of research being done with Justice Community Overdose Innovation Network, a national program that aims to prevent overdoses “among the high-risk justice-involved population,” according to the initiative’s website.
TCU was a research hub for the network in 2021, focusing on improving “safety outcomes for reentering justice-involved individuals who have a history of (or are at risk for) using opioids,” according to an article summarizing the study.
The university was among a dozen institutions that served as hubs in the first phase of the innovation network, which ran from 2018 to 2025. The NIH awarded those hubs about $172 million in total and followed the outcomes of more than 23,000 people.
This second phase of the network’s efforts will look at intervention possibilities at earlier points and how those can be expanded on a larger scale to other communities.
Eight other research institutions are serving as clinical research hubs for the second phase with each conducting independent studies.
“This is an ideal example of how TCU faculty are leading the way with research that makes a difference in the world while enhancing our students’ academic experience,” said Reuben Burch, TCU vice provost for research, in a press release.
Ismael M. Belkoura is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org.
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