Toolkit Demo Complete | National Commission on Correctional Health Care

Toolkit Demo Complete

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A Call for Persistence: The NCCHC Reentry Toolkit

Scalable Strategies for Successful Reentry Nationwide While there are many reentry resources and programs, no accessible, comprehensive, health care-focused document exists to provide jail staff with evidence-based recommendations on implementing a reentry program. This toolkit is designed to provide practical, accessible guidance for jail administrators and staff seeking to implement or improve reentry programming. If you’ve seen one jail reentry program, you’ve seen one jail reentry program. Each jail has unique needs, challenges, and opportunities. This resource is designed so readers can jump directly to the section most relevant to their situation, review key takeaways, and access helpful tools associated with that section.

1. Planning: Laying the Foundation for a Jail Reentry Program

Key Takeaways

  • A passionate, dedicated team is crucial to this difficult, high-stakes work.
  • This is an ongoing and evolving process that takes time and continuous effort.
  • Explore multiple funding sources and build trust with funders.
  • Engage an independent evaluator early in program development.

Toolkit

A robust reentry program should include a correctional-to-community collaborative that implements policies, procedures, and operational changes to better address the unique needs of each individual being released back into the community. Planned reintegration and continuity of care support healthier communities and public safety.

Step 1: Identify the Overall Goal of the Program

Identifying a concrete goal for the program helps guide activities and allows stakeholders to measure success. A goal such as reducing recidivism should be achievable and measurable. It is important to define how recidivism will be measured and what period of time will be used for evaluation. Review or collect baseline data to better understand current outcomes, population needs, and system costs. Reentry programming is most effective when it is tied to a clear goal and a measurable baseline.

Step 2: Establish Program Team

Identify an individual who will champion the program and ensure that it moves forward, is evaluated, improved, and sustained.

Advisory Committee

An Advisory Committee is a group of executive-level leaders who can make decisions on behalf of their organizations. This group can help address system-level challenges and support long-term planning and sustainability.
  • Identify key data sets
  • Implement necessary data sharing agreements
  • Engage an independent evaluator
  • Determine the target population
  • Develop a sustainability plan

Implementation Team

An Implementation Team is a group of ground-level staff from key stakeholders who can implement changes within their organizations. This team works closely on planning, logistics, and program rollout.
  • Conduct a literature review
  • Create a logic model
  • Develop a service delivery model
  • Identify relevant resources and referral pathways
  • Develop an evaluation plan

Step 3: Determine Target Population

Review baseline data to determine the target population. It may be appropriate to begin with a pilot focused on a specific population and expand later. Goals should be tied to the population being served and the outcomes the program intends to improve.

2. The Reentry Spectrum: From Intake to Discharge

Key Takeaways

  • Continually engage those with high risk and high needs throughout incarceration.
  • Start where you can, even if that means focusing on one population.
  • Take a holistic approach and tailor supports to the whole person.
  • Map the community to understand available resources and services.
  • Use a strengths-based approach to reentry planning.

Toolkit

Step 1: Develop Policies and Procedures to Screen for Reentry Needs

Purpose: To identify, using objective tools, the strengths, risks, and needs of individuals. Standardized screening during intake helps staff develop a baseline understanding of the security level, physical health, mental health, and substance use history of individuals entering the facility. Existing tools and effective processes should be used whenever possible.
  • Medical screening questionnaire
  • Mental health questionnaire
  • Substance abuse questionnaire
  • Classification tools

Step 2: Assessment

Purpose: To gather in-depth information about an individual’s needs and goals. Assessment should provide a more complete understanding of a person’s health, social needs, risks, and goals. Multiple tools and data sources may be used to support a holistic view of each person’s reentry needs.

Step 3: Intervention

Purpose: To guide targeted, evidence-based interventions during incarceration. Programming should be based on evaluated methods associated with positive outcomes. Individualized reentry plans should reflect assessment results, facility goals, and available community resources.
  • Risk and needs screening
  • Health and behavioral health supports
  • Job readiness and employment support
  • Family reintegration planning
  • Community-based referrals

Step 4: Discharge Planning

Purpose: To connect people to community-based health and social supports and to promote continuity of care after release. Discharge planning should account for legal requirements, medication continuity, insurance status, transportation, documentation needs, follow-up appointments, and access to community resources.
  • Community resource guide
  • Medicaid or insurance assistance
  • Warm handoff to community providers
  • Medication supply and prescriptions
  • Transportation assistance
  • Help obtaining identification documents

3. Evaluation

Key Takeaways

  • The program goal and objectives should drive evaluation methodology.
  • Plans for data collection and evaluation must be developed early.
  • Policies should ensure confidentiality and compliance.
  • Local academic or public health partners can support evaluation efforts.
  • The evaluation plan should be included in grant or funding proposals.

Toolkit

Meaningful data collection and evaluation methodologies are essential to assess the impact of reentry programming. Evaluation and quality improvement efforts should work together and be informed by the program’s goals, logic model, and intended outcomes.

Evaluation Plan

The evaluation plan should explain how the reach and impact of the program will be measured. Performance measures should clearly define what data will be collected, who will be included, where the data will come from, and how often it will be reviewed.
  • Why? Include an evidence-based rationale.
  • What? Clearly define the data element.
  • Who? Specify inclusion and exclusion criteria.
  • Where? Identify the data source.
  • When? Determine audit and reporting frequency.

Reporting

Evaluation results should be communicated clearly to staff, community partners, government officials, and funders. Reports may include case studies, qualitative findings, and descriptive statistics. Transparency about data limitations is important.

Appendix Tools

Each section can include related tools and templates so users can access them exactly where they are needed. Sample idea: In the finished version, the page could include navigation on the left and this content on the right, allowing users to jump directly to the section they need without scrolling through the entire document.