Jail Healthcare

Jails are local correctional institutions that are on the front-line of healthcare in the criminal justice system. They process 13 million admissions a year.  Jail inmates are disproportionately male, people of color, and poor.

Many of these individuals experience serious health problems. Half of jail inmates and prisoners have a chronic health condition. Nearly two thirds of jail inmates meet clinical criteria for substance abuse or dependence, and more than 40 percent have a history of a mental health problem.

Public safety stakeholders are not unaware of this trend. Sheriffs and wardens throughout the country frequently comment about how their institutions have become de facto mental health institutions and how jails are poorly equipped to serve in that role.

Even though jails are not considered healthcare delivery sites, considerable resources are dedicated to medical care in these settings, including intake assessments, sick call, chronic medical and mental health care, emergency responses.

Whether a justice involved person receives treatment in a jail or the community, there is little coordination between jail and community providers. As a result, treatments are interrupted impacting the health of the individual and potentially the health of the community.

COCHS' Mission

Since its beginning Community Oriented Correctional Health Services (COCHS) has worked to bridge the gap between correctional and community providers. COCHS' major emphasis has been to re-frame jail healthcare not as a place separate from the rest of the community but as another healthcare delivery site within the community.

This perspective has many advantages. Coordination of care between community and correctional providers helps reduce interruption of treatments and the negative impact these interruptions can pose to individual health, community health, and community resources.

As part of its mission, COCHS provides technical assistance to assist communities in finding ways to improve healthcare in local correctional facilities as well as providing expertise on health information technology to create connectivity and data sharing. COCHS has also been the leader in identifying policies at the federal, state, and local levels that help local jurisdictions address the healthcare needs of their community members who are temporarily displaced within correctional institutions.

Stakeholders whether they be criminal justice professionals, policy makers, or health care providers seldom interact. COCHS has convened multiple conferences and working groups so these groups can exchange ideas and find solutions to the health crises that lead many people to cycle through jails.

What's New

Stories and news items of note impacting healthcare within corrections
Historic Health Changes in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill
COCHS
The omnibus bill allows states to choose to make substantial structural changes to how correctional healthcare is financed for eligible, incarcerated beneficiaries and provides a pathway forward for further reforms to improve care for justice-involved people. Sections 5122 of the law amends the Social Security Act to allow states to choose to allow incarcerated young people to maintain their Medicaid benefits as they await disposition of their charges.
Medicaid should cover the incarcerated
Commonwealth
In an opinion piece, Peter J. Koutoujian, sheriff of Middlesex County, MA, writes: For millions of Americans with serious health care needs, their treatment is not being provided at a hospital or clinic, but at the county jail. This is why I’ve been working with both state and national leaders to eliminate the Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy that bars any eligible incarcerated person from accessing Medicaid services.
Federal Prisoners Concerned Over End Of CARES Act National Emergency Declaration
Forbes
Since March 2022, approximately 12,000 minimum security prisoners were allowed to serve a portion of their prison term on home confinement instead of in a federal prison as a result of The CARES Act. These releases were based on the President’s COVID-19 National Emergency Declaration. The Public Health Emergency runs until April 11, 2023. But prison populations continue to experience spread of the disease.


( What's New postings are updated weekly --previous postings are archived. )

COCHS' Weekly Update

COCHS sends out a weekly update of news stories covering healthcare within correctional institutions. These stories range from stories about local correctional institutions all the way to national initiatives. Occasionally, we will post announcements about COCHS or one of our partner organizations.