Project attempts to improve health by reducing barriers of prisoner re-entry to society
MADISON- Wisconsin’s prison population has more than doubled in the last 20 years and when those prisoners are released, they face major obstacles to employment, education and family relationships – the kinds of connections that are key to good health.
With a $1million grant from the Wisconsin Partnership Program, a researcher at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health is teaming up with a community-organizing group to change the conversation about criminal justice reform and improve the health of individuals, families and communities.
Dr. Geoffrey Swain of the department of family medicine and community health has received a four-year grant from the Wisconsin Partnership Program and will collaborate with WISDOM, a group of 160 faith congregations that works for social justice and improvement of population-level health in the state.
The project will specifically look at the issues faced by people on extended supervision after returning to the community from jail or prison. Most have not been convicted of a new crime, but rather a rule violation.
“Most of those sent to prison are from probation and parole revocation rather than criminal conviction,” said David Liners, WISDOM director. “We consider incarceration a public health problem with widespread negative health effects on people, communities and populations. Changes could be made in the process of reintegrating non-violent offenders back into society without compromising public safety. The re-entry process involves social, emotional, economic and psychological reintegration.”
Swain said that incarcerated individuals have a higher likelihood of chronic illnesses like asthma, hypertension and arthritis. Children of incarcerated parents often have an increased risk of neglect or abuse, delinquency and poor academic performance.
“Incarceration can erode social connectedness and family structure as well as reduce opportunities and access to education, employment and housing, all strong determinants of health outcomes and disparities,” said Swain.
Under the project, WISDOM’s ex-prisoner advocacy group, EXPO, will be expanded to train more former prisoners to provide leadership and individual mentoring. The leaders will work with prisoners re-entering society to identify and assess the biggest barriers to successfully rejoining society.
The project will also include a health-impact assessment (HIA) of current and potential criminal justice policies that relate to community re-entry and crimeless parole revocations.
“The ultimate goals are to improve re-entry into society and reduce needless return to prison,” said Swain. “The hope is to improve health outcomes not only for formerly incarcerated individuals but also for their families and communities.”
The HIA could also identify potential changes in other policies and systems that may improve health and reduce disparities by addressing other key social determinants of health including employment, access to housing and barriers to education.
Swain said the HIA that will be conducted from March to September, 2016 will be followed by a public education campaign on the relationships among incarceration, re-entry into society and health of individuals, families and the community and to promote positive change in the justice system.
“If we try to get a handle on the barriers faced by formerly incarcerated people, we might develop the political will to advocate for changes in the criminal justice system,” said Liners.
