NCJ Number
222698
Date Published
February 2008
Length
82 pages
Annotation
This report documents health challenges facing returning prisoners and describes how individuals with health conditions navigated the first year after release from prison.
Abstract
Results demonstrate how the transition from prison to community differs for individuals with health problems, and how knowledge of the specific differences can be used to target interventions to improve reentry outcomes. The majority of returning men and women had considerable problems related to drug use and alcohol intoxication. The findings presented in this report demonstrated that most returning prisoners had chronic health conditions requiring treatment or management; 8 out of 10 men, and 9 out of 10 women reported having at least 1 physical health, mental health, or substance abuse problem. One half of men and two thirds of women reported physical health conditions. Fifteen percent of men and one-third of women reported mental health conditions, but the actual prevalence is likely to be double the self-reported amounts. Furthermore, about two- thirds reported active substance abuse, not simply substance use, in the 6 months before this incarceration. Given the high prevalence of these conditions, it is not sufficient to think of returning prisoners with health conditions as a special-needs case but rather as the norm. This research has demonstrated how the transition from prison to community differs for individuals with health conditions, and the knowledge of the specific differences can be used to target interventions to improve reentry outcomes. Policymakers and practitioners would be well served to adopt a new paradigm that recognizes health is a universal rather than a special-needs concern among returning prisoners. This report is based on the reentry experiences of the 838 men and 262 women turning from Ohio and Texas State prisons during 2004 and 2005. Tables, references