With this funding and under proposed policy action, HRSA-funded health centers may provide health care services – including chronic disease, mental health, and substance use disorder treatment – to individuals soon to be released from incarceration to support their healthy return to the community
Research finds that individuals released from prison face an opioid overdose risk up to 10 times the risk of the general public
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced nearly $52 million in awards for 54 HRSA-funded health centers to increase access to high-quality primary care for people soon to be released from incarceration and reentering the community.
Aligned with the White House Second Chance Initiative, today’s funding enables health centers to implement innovative approaches to support justice-involved individuals before their release to address health risks during reentry, including elevated risk of opioid overdose and the increased risk associated with being disconnected from critical treatment for chronic diseases, including medications. As many as 80% of individuals returning to the community after incarceration have chronic medical, psychiatric, and/or substance use conditions. Researchers have reported that among individuals who are released from prison, opioid overdose is a leading cause of death with a risk more than ten-fold that of the general population. Individuals leaving incarceration also face many heightened health risks, including disproportionately higher rates of chronic conditions such as diabetes, hepatitis, and hypertension.
In addition to today’s funding announcement, HRSA issued a draft policy earlier this year for all health centers clarifying the circumstances under which they may provide pre-release care to justice-involved individuals. This policy supports health centers to better meet the needs of their entire community and describes how health centers can provide health services to incarcerated individuals who are expected to be or are scheduled for release from a carceral setting within 90 days to help ensure continuity of care.
“At HRSA, we are committed to caring for historically underserved communities,” said HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson. “People reentering the community from incarceration are particularly vulnerable to poor health outcomes and mortality. We can change that if care and services are more closely connected to the reentry experience, which is why we are working to clarify that HRSA-funded health centers can provide pre-release services and why we are investing in health centers engaging with individuals prior to their release to better support their successful and healthy reentry to the community.”
Health centers are uniquely positioned to support justice-involved individuals as they navigate the reentry period and to help them overcome potential barriers to returning home and staying healthy. HRSA’s draft policy proposes to make clear that health centers can provide health services to incarcerated individuals who are expected to be or are scheduled for release from a carceral setting within 90 days to help ensure continuity of care as people come home to their community.
Health centers receiving grant awards today will focus on the following critical health needs:
- Managing chronic conditions;
- Reducing the risk of drug overdose;
- Addressing mental health and substance use disorder treatment needs; and
- Preventing, screening, diagnosing, and treating infectious diseases.
Award recipients must also provide case management services and work with community partners to address health-related social needs, such as housing and food insecurity, financial strain, transportation barriers, and intimate partner violence.
For a list of the awardees, visit: https://bphc.hrsa.gov/funding/funding-opportunities/quality-improvement-fund-justice-involved-populations/fy25-awards.
To find a health center, visit: https://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/