Expertise

Substance Abuse Treatment, Prisons, HIV Risks and Service Needs, Criminal Justice and Public Health, Implementation Science, Organizational Change, Interventions, Research Methods and Evaluation

Biography

Steven Belenko, Ph.D. is Professor in the Temple University Department of Criminal Justice. Before joining the Temple faculty in August 2006, Dr. Belenko was a Senior Scientist at the Treatment Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, and a Fellow at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. Prior positions were held at the New York City Criminal Justice Agency, New York City Office of the Mayor, Vera Institute of Justice, and Mathematica Policy Research. Dr. Belenko is an internationally recognized scholar on the impact of substance use on the adult and juvenile justice systems, HIV risk behaviors and related service needs for offenders, and the integration of treatment and other services in various criminal justice settings. His current and recent experimental research has involved improving implementation of evidence-based drug treatment in different criminal justice settings; developing and testing organizational change and process improvement strategies to improve the implementation of
treatment and other health services for incarcerated persons and probationers; prevalence, risk factors, and service needs for sexually transmitted infections among juvenile delinquents; development and testing of brief interventions for delinquents at risk for substance use; computerized therapeutic interventions for drug-involved inmates; and improving use of evidence-based practices in juvenile and adult drug courts. He has been principal investigator on numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice and several foundations.

Three recent grant-funded projects involve (1) testing the impact of peer recovery support specialists on treatment for probationers with opioid use disorders (funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse); (2) developing and testing an intervention to improve linkage to medication-assisted treatment for inmates with opioid use disorders returning to Philadelphia from prisons and jails (funded by the PA Department of Health); and (3) examining treatment quality, treatment matching, and best practices for serving high-risk/high need persons in adult drug courts (funded by the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance). Dr. Belenko has published numerous articles and book chapters, and is the author of four books: Crack and the Evolution of Antidrug Policy (winner of the American Library Association’s Choice Magazine academic book of the year award), Drugs and Drug Policy in America: A Documentary History, Implementing Evidence Based Addiction Treatment in Community Corrections (with Dr. Faye Taxman), and Drugs, Crime and Justice (with Dr. Cassia Spohn). Dr. Belenko received his B.S. in applied mathematics and Ph.D. in experimental psychology from Columbia University. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Experimental Criminology, and recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Division of Corrections and Sentencing (American Society of Criminology), and the Academy of Experimental Criminology.

Curriculum Vitae

Selected Publications

• Satcher, M., Belenko, S., Coetzer-Liversage, A., Wilson, K., McCart, M., Drazdowski, T., Fallin-Bennett, A., Zaller, N., et al. (2024). Linkage facilitation for opioid use disorder in criminal legal system contexts: A primer for researchers, clinicians, and legal practitioners Health & Justice. Forthcoming.
• del Pozo, B., Belenko, S., Taxman, F., Engel, R., Ratcliffe, J., Adams, I., & Piquero, A. (2024). Then a miracle occurs: Cause, effect, and the heterogeneity of criminal justice research. Journal of Experimental Criminology. Forthcoming.
• del Pozo, B., Belenko, S., Pivovarova, E., Ray, B., Martins, K., & Taxman, F. (2024). Using implementation science to improve evidence-based policing: An introduction for researchers and practitioners. Police Quarterly. Online publication ahead of print.
• Nelson, V., Wood, J., Belenko, S., Pankow, J., & Piper, K. (2024). Conditions of successful treatment referral practices with justice-involved youth: Qualitative insights from probation and service provider staff involved in JJ-TRIALS. Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment, 162, 209368.
• Stanley, J., DeLucca, S., Perron, L., & Belenko, S. (2023). The impact of co-occurring mental health problems on referral to and initiation of treatment among youth under probation supervision. Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment. Online publication ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.josat.2023.209279
• Stahler, G., Mennis, J., & Belenko, S. (2023). At the crossroads in the opioid overdose epidemic: Will evidence-based ‘radical’ but rational  policy strategies prevail? American Journal of Public Health, 113, 747-749.
• Knight, D., Belenko, S., Dennis, M., Wasserman, G., Joe, G., Aarons, G. Bartkowski, J., Becan, J., et al. (2022). Effectiveness of a bundled implementation intervention to improve linkage and treatment receipt across service sectors. BMC Health Services Research, 22:1535. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08902-6.
• Belenko, S., Dennis, M., Hiller, M., Mackin, J., Cain, C., Weiland, D., Estrada, B., & Kagan, R. (2022). The impact of juvenile drug treatment courts on substance use, mental health, and recidivism: Results from a multisite experimental evaluation. Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research, 49, 436-455.
• Belenko, S., Dembo, R., Knight, D., Elkington, K., Wasserman, G., Robertson, A., Welsh, W., Schmeidler, J., Joe, G., & Wiley, T. (2022). Using structured implementation interventions to improve referral to substance use treatment among justice-involved youth: Findings from a multisite cluster randomized implementation trial. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 140, 108829. PMID: 35751945.
• DeLucca, S., Belenko, S., & Taylor, R.B. (2022, August). Predicting initiation to treatment for youth on probation: A multi-level approach. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 237, 109513.
• Hiller, M., Belenko, S., Dennis, M., Estrada, B., Cain, C., Mackin, J., Kagan, R., & Pappacena, L. (2021, December). The impact of juvenile drug treatment courts (JDTC) Implementing federal evidence-based guidelines on recidivism and substance use: Multisite randomized controlled trial (RCT) and regression discontinuity (RDD) designs. Health and Justice, 9, 38.
• Belenko, S., Bodas LaPollo, A., Gesser, N., Weiland, D., Perron, L., & Johnson I.D. (2021). Augmenting substance use treatment in the drug court: A pilot randomized trial of peer recovery support. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 131, 108581.
• Vîlcică, E.R. & Belenko, S. (2021). Designing effective pre-release programs: Challenges and pathways towards successful reintegration. Advancing Corrections, 11, 112-127.
• Belenko, S. (2019). The role of drug courts in promoting desistance and recovery: A merging of therapy and accountability. Addiction Research and Theory, 27(1), 3-15. DOI: 10.1080/16066359.2018.1524882. Published online: 13 Jan 2019
• Hamilton, L. & Belenko, S. (2019). Substance use disorder treatment in the reentry environment: service receipt and prisoner community reintegration, Criminal Justice and Behavior, 46, 1295-1318. September.
• Belenko, S., Johnson, I., Taxman, F. & Rieckmann, T. (2018). Probation staff attitudes toward substance abuse treatment and evidence-based practices. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 62, 313-333.
• Belenko, S., Visher, C., Pearson, F., Swan, H., Pich, M., O’Connell, D., et al. (2017). Efficacy of a structured organizational change intervention on HIV testing in correctional facilities. AIDS Education and Prevention, 29, 241-255.
• Belenko, S., Knight, D., Wasserman. G.A., Dennis, M., Wiley, T., Taxman, F.S., et al. (2017). The Juvenile Justice Behavioral Health Services Cascade: A new framework for measuring unmet substance use treatment services needs among adolescent offenders. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 74, 80-91.
• Knight, D.K., Belenko. S., Wiley, T., Robertson, A., Arrigona, N., Dennis, M., et al. (2016). Juvenile Justice—Translational Research on Interventions for Adolescents in the Legal System (JJ-TRIALS): A cluster randomized trial targeting system-wide improvement in substance use services. Implementation Science, 11, 57. DOI: 10.1186/s13012-016-0423 5. PMID: 27130175
• Hamilton, L. & Belenko S. (2016). Effects of pre-release services on access to behavioral health treatment after release from prison. Justice Quarterly, 33, 1080-1102.
• Belenko, S., Wiley, T., Knight, D., Dennis, M., Wasserman, G., & Taxman, F. (2015). A new behavioral health services cascade framework for measuring unmet addiction health services needs and adolescent offenders: conceptual and measurement challenges. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 10(1), 1-2.
• Belenko, S., Dembo, R., Hiller, M., Copenhaver, M., O’Connell, D., Pankow, J., Albizu Garcia, C., Oser, C., Swan., H., & Pearson, F.  (2015). HIV stigma in prisons and jails: Results from a staff survey. AIDS and Behavior, 20(1), 71-84. DOI10.1007/s10461-015-1098-7. NIHMS696882
• Houser, K., & Belenko, S. (2015). Disciplinary responses to misconduct among female prison inmates with mental illness, substance use disorders, and co-occurring disorders. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 38, 24–34.
• Belenko, S. & Spohn, C. (2015). Drugs, Crime, and Justice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Visher, C., Hiller, M., Belenko, S., Pankow, J., Dembo, R., et al. (2014). The effect of a Local Change Team intervention on staff attitudes towards HIV service delivery in correctional settings: A randomized trial. AIDS Education and Perevention, 26(5), 411–428. PMCID
• Spohn, C. Kim, B., Belenko, S., & Brennan, P. (2014). The direct and indirect effects of offender drug use on federal sentencing outcomes. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 30(4), 549-576.
• Belenko, S., Visher, C., Copenhaver, M., Hiller, M., Melnick, G., O’Connell, D., et al. (2013). A cluster randomized trial of utilizing a local change team approach to improve the delivery of HIV services in correctional settings: study protocol. Health and Justice,1,8. Doi 10.1186/10.1186/2194-7899-1-8. PMC4270366
• Belenko, S., Hiller, M., & Hamilton, L. (2013). Treating substance use disorders in the criminal justice system. Current Psychiatry Reports, 15: 414. Doi 10.1007/s11920-013-0414-z. PMCID: PMC3859122
• Belenko, S., Hiller, M., Visher, C., Copenhaver, M., O’Connell, D., Burdon, W., Pankow, J., Clarke, J., & Oser, C. (2013). Policies and practices in the delivery of HIV services in correctional agencies and facilities: Results from a multisite survey. Journal of Correctional Health Care, 19, 293-310. PMCID: PMC3801270.
• Stahler, G., Mennis, J., Belenko, S., Welsh, W., Hiller, M., & Zajac, G.(2013). Predicting recidivism for released state prison offenders: Examining the influence of individual and neighborhood characteristics and spatial contagion on the likelihood of reincarceration. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 40, 690-711.
• Taxman, F.  & Belenko, S. (2012). Implementing Evidence-Based Practices in Community Corrections and Addiction Treatment. New York: Springer.
• Belenko, S., Houser, K., & Welsh, W.  (2012).  Understanding the impact of drug treatment in correctional settings. In: J. Petersilia and K. Reitz (eds.). Oxford Handbook on Sentencing and Corrections. (PP. 463-491).  New York: Oxford University Press.
• Belenko, S., Fabrikant, N., & Wolff, N. (2011). The long road to treatment: Models of screening and admission into drug courts. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 38, 1222-1243.
• Vîlcică, E.R., Belenko, S., Hiller, M., & Taxman, F. (2010). Exporting court innovation from the United States to continental Europe: Compatibility between the drug court model and the inquisitorial justice system. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 34, 139-172.
• Hiller, M., Belenko, S., Taxman, F., Young, D., Perdoni, M., & Saum, C. (2010). Measuring drug court structure and operations: Key components and beyond. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 37(9), 933-950.
• Belenko, S., Dembo, R., Rollie, M., Childs, K., & Salvatore, C. (2009). Detecting, preventing, and treating sexually transmitted infections among adolescent offenders: An unmet public health need. American Journal of Public Health, 99, 1032-1041. PMCID: PMC2679796
• Belenko, S. (2006).  Assessing released inmates for substance-abuse related service needs. Crime and Delinquency, 52, 94-113.
• Belenko, S. & Peugh, J. (2005). Estimating drug treatment needs among state prison inmates. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 77, 269-281.

Courses Taught

• Introduction to Criminal Justice Research Methods
• Drugs, Crime, and Criminal Justice (honors)
• Research Methods in Criminal Justice (graduate)
• Seminar in Advanced Criminal Justice Research Topics: Drugs, Crime, and Justice (graduate)
• Seminar in Special Topics in Criminal Justice: Public Health, Health Services, and Criminal Justice (graduate)
• Decision Making in Criminal Justice (graduate)
• Seminar in Criminal Justice Policy: Implementation Science (graduate)