Establishing State and Federal Correctional Health Coordinators to respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The national response to the COVID-19 pandemic is exposing life-threatening gaps in the health system’s response for people who are in involved in the criminal justice system. There are large and immediate health risks to people who are incarcerated and correctional officers. In Establishing State and Federal Correctional Health Coordinators to respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic, COCHS proposes that states should establish correctional health coordinators to coordinate the emergency response for incarcerated people.

We believe that the creation of a Correctional Health Coordinator with state and federal coordinating authority could cut across silos. States could move forward immediately to create a Correctional Health Coordinator through funding available in the CARES Act, but new coronavirus relief legislation could establish a leadership role and grant program in HHS that funds new state-level correctional health coordinators.