Protect and Connect: Couple HIV Prevention for Drug Involved Male Offenders

Overview

This study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) that will rigorously evaluate the implementation, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a couple-based integrated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and drug abuse prevention intervention (Connect II) with drug-involved male offenders charged with misdemeanors and their primary female sexual partners, implemented by frontline providers in Criminal Court, Community Court or probation (CCP) sites in NYC, compared to CCP standard treatment of care services (TAU). The primary outcomes are to reduce sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and increase condom use.

HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and criminal justice involvement are critical intersecting public health issues for drug-involved men. Low income, Black and Hispanic men especially bear the burden of the HIV epidemic and are over-represented in the U.S. criminal justice system. Recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) surveillance data suggest that the health disparity in HIV rates is actually increasing for Black men: current estimates suggest 1 in 16 Black men in the U.S. will be infected with HIV in their life time. These HIV/STI transmission risks are fueled by high rates of poverty, incarceration, unemployment, and lack of access to health care and prevention services. The proposed study thus targets an underserved population at the epicenter of the epidemic in the U.S.

Conditions