How $1 million will be used to help women leaving CT prison with health care access

CT Post – Monday, November 25, 2024
By Cris Villalonga-Vivoni

A new $1 million grant and partnership between Community Health Center, Inc. and York Correctional Institution, the only state prison for women, aims to offer health services and care coordination to women released from the facility in Niantic to reduce their potential barriers.

With the grant funds, Community Health Center plans to hire and train a team that will collaborate with York facility social workers. They will create a transition plan for women released from the facility to ensure access to care services and other supports.

Kasey Harding, the director of Community Health Center’s Center for Key Populations, said the Women in Transition Program “recognizes the importance of the re-entry phase for women being released from prison, including the period just prior to release, and aims to implement a program that combines community partnerships, navigation through the healthcare and support systems, and allocation of resources to help participants achieve success.”

A report from the U.S. Department of Justice found that five million people across the U.S. were involved with the incarceration system in 2020. Nearly 550,000 were released from prison in that same year. In Connecticut, roughly 4,161 men and 319 women are released from its prisons each year, according to Prison Policy Initiative, a national non-profit criminal justice reform research and advocacy group.

When formerly incarcerated people can access health care, the DOJ reported that they are more likely to lead healthier lives, which can help improve their employment, housing and support networks. It also lowers re-entry rates into the prison system, also known as recidivism.

However, many formerly incarcerated individuals face barriers, like gaps in health insurance coverage and logistical problems accessing services, the DOJ report found. At the same time, people who were in prison often have higher rates of mental health issues and substance use disorder but don’t have the same access to treatment both in and out of prison.

The new grant hopes to address some of those gaps in services in Connecticut. According to its website, Community Health Center is a non-profit health care provider serving more than 145,000 people across 19 locations in Connecticut. The non-profit also offers several mobile and school-based health services. The grant is from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that provides medical services to geographically isolated and economically or medically vulnerable communities.

Over $52 million was distributed to 54 administration-funded health centers across the U.S., including CHC, to improve access to care for people reentering the community.

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