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Background

The opioid epidemic is a public health crisis, devastating urban, suburban, and rural communities across the United States. Each day, 115 Americans die from opioid overdose. Over two million Americans are currently living with an opioid-related substance use disorder. Opioid-related disorders physically and psychologically cripple individuals and destroy family connections. A broad range of civil legal issues are frequently associated with such disorders, including issues related to child support/child custody/guardianship, health benefits, domestic violence, housing, employment, and child abuse and neglect.

As best practices for treatment and recovery emerge, policymakers, the criminal justice system, and public health officials have begun to recognize that a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach is needed both to help people recover from opioid-related disorders and to prevent additional individuals from becoming addicted in the future. There has been increased focus on how legal services and other social services can serve as critical recovery resources alongside medical treatment. For example, dozens of LSC grantees participate in medical-legal partnerships, which are flexible, collaborative arrangements in which legal professionals are embedded in a health care organization to address the unmet civil legal needs of patients that directly impact health outcomes.

Despite legal aid’s impact in helping individuals and families dealing with opioid-related disorders, there remains a significant gap in awareness regarding the prevalence of civil legal issues associated with the epidemic and the role civil legal aid providers can play in addressing those issues. Many organizations responding to opioid-related disorders are unaware not only of the issues facing individuals and families affected by the opioid epidemic, but also of their legal rights.

Opioid Task Force’s was comprised of a diverse group of LSC grantees, health care and public health experts, judges, business leaders, and other stakeholders. Its primary goals were:

• Educate public health officials and treatment providers about the legal obstacles patients face in obtaining and remaining in treatment;

• Educate judges, law enforcement officials, child welfare workers, and employers about the civil legal issues connected to medication-assisted treatment for opioid-related disorders;

• Engage with public health officials, treatment providers, and others to promote a comprehensive model of recovery that includes legal aid attorneys as resources for individuals and families affected by the opioid epidemic; and 

• Provide a forum for study and discussion of potential best practices for engaging legal aid attorneys in the recovery process and identify and make recommendations to promote such practices.

To read more about the work of LSC’s other task forces, click here.

Opioid Task Force Members