BLOOMINGTON, Ill., May 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Chestnut Health Systems™ has announced the establishment of the Justice-involved and Emerging Adult Populations (JEAP) Research Center, housed within its Lighthouse Institute, marking the next phase of work launched under the nationally recognized JEAP Initiative.
The JEAP Initiative was a collaboration focused on advancing justice, equity, and access by examining systemic barriers and creating pathways to support, opportunity, and long‑term community well‑being in justice-involved and emerging adult populations. Through education, advocacy, and cross‑sector partnership, JEAP worked to strengthen individuals, families, and communities most impacted by inequity.
Over the last six years, the JEAP Initiative earned national recognition—including from the National Institutes of Health—for its community-engaged research focused on substance use treatment and recovery services for justice-involved and emerging adult populations. These two populations face a disproportionate burden of substance use disorders.
Emerging adults and those involved in the criminal legal system are at heightened risk for overdose and co-occurring mental health conditions, alongside co-occurring mental health conditions, physical comorbidities, and systemic social challenges. The team co-developed numerous products and presentations with national community boards for both the general public and researchers. They also generated the preliminary studies needed for early career investigators to submit for federally-funded research. All eight JEAP Initiative trainees secured federal grant funding as principal investigators before the program's end, effectively launching the next generation of researchers.
"The JEAP Initiative demonstrated what's possible when people with lived experience are supported to partner on and lead research," said Ashli J. Sheidow, Ph.D., senior research scientist, Chestnut's Lighthouse Institute. "That approach shaped meaningful training opportunities, community‑driven research priorities, and practical tools that will continue to influence the field well beyond the original initiative."
As the original initiative concludes, the JEAP Research Center will preserve the JEAP name while providing a long-term organizational home for the research team's work. In the upcoming years, The JEAP Research Center will continue to focus on advancing community-engaged research to strengthen substance use treatment and recovery services for justice-involved and emerging adult populations by identifying what works, for whom, and under what conditions to improve recovery, reentry, and long-term stability—while increasing the representation and leadership of people with lived experience across the research enterprise.
"The JEAP Research Center allows us to carry forward the expertise, partnerships, and community-informed approach developed under the JEAP Initiative," said Mike Dennis, Ph.D., chief research officer, Chestnut Health Systems. "This transition ensures the impact of that work continues well beyond the original grant period."
The JEAP Research Center will serve as the umbrella for Chestnut's ongoing and future research projects in these areas, including federally funded studies. While the initiative structure is ending, there is no new funding associated with this announcement.
Over the coming year, resources developed through the JEAP Initiative will be migrated to a new JEAP Research Center website, www.chestnut.org/JEAP, to ensure continued public access.
Chestnuts' Lighthouse Institute conducts research and evaluation to strengthen real-world practice, inform policy, and improve outcomes for individuals and communities.
Chestnut Health Systems is a not-for-profit organization that has cared since 1973 for the most vulnerable in our communities. Chestnut provides substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery; mental health treatment; primary care; dental care; and housing and supportive services. It is a leader in behavioral health-related research through its Lighthouse Institute. More at www.chestnut.org.
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SOURCE Chestnut Health Systems
