Nick Richardson

Background

About Nick Richardson

I am a research analyst with several years of experience as both a criminal justice researcher and practitioner working with justice involved individuals, especially those with substance use disorders. I joined the Policing Research Program at RTI International and have since supported several criminal justice-related projects that involve issues related to program evaluation and analytics, recidivism, substance abuse and mental health, and policing, especially law enforcement strategies designed to combat the opioid epidemic. I have led research examining factors predicting recidivism such as traumatic brain injuries, substance use, and mental illness. I have helped design structured interviews where I interviewed over a dozen individuals convicted of homicide offenses that either remained out of prison after being paroled or those who were rearrested for a new offense and returned to prison. From this research I identified several cognitive and social factors that predicted successful reintegration into the community. I presented on a panel at the National Rx and Heroin summit that examined recent shifts in criminal justice philosophies and policing strategies to combat the opioid epidemic, how to implement these programs, and the types of data that may help evaluate them. I have extensive experience working with complex criminal justice-related data and data integration across multiple public health and public safety systems. I have assisted in designing experimental designs including randomized control trials and idiographic clinical trials of programs designed to target frequent utilizers of the criminal justice system, most of whom experience chronic problems related to substance abuse and addiction. As a substance abuse counselor, I treated individuals with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders. Often, these individuals had extensive involvement in the criminal justice system. I developed treatment plans and coordinated care with other local social service agencies to ensure successful transition back into their community, which would include remaining sober and reducing criminal behavior (which was, in most instances, the result of chronic drug and alcohol use).