CONNECTICUT, USA — Community Health Center, Inc., or CHC, was awarded $1 million by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, or HRSA, to provide healthcare and support services for women being released from the York Correctional Institution, or YCI, in Niantic.
CHC is one of 54 HRSA-funded health centers nationwide to receive the grant. The grant aims to improve the transition of formerly-incarcerated women back to their communities.
YCI is the state’s only correctional facility for women and CHC will partner with the institution to launch the Women in Transition Program. The initiative will focus on comprehensive care coordination: including a needs assessment, individualized transition planning and personalized community health navigation. The goal is to address health, safety and psychosocial challenges that women face after release.
The program will begin working with women identified by YCI as being within 90 days of release. CHC’s role will include creating tailored care plans in collaboration with YCI discharge social workers and connecting participants to primary care. It will also include behavioral health services, substance use treatment as well as specialty services as needed. Following release, CHC will continue to assist participants by linking them to local resources and helping eliminate barriers to care.
Kasey Harding, director of CHC’s Center for Key Populations, emphasized the importance of this re-entry phase, noting that the program combines community partnerships and healthcare navigation to empower women in achieving long-term success.
Harding said, “We are grateful to HRSA for supporting this important initiative to create a sustainable, replicable, and successful program that empowers women being released from prison to attain the goals that are most important to them, their families, and their communities, and to avoid recidivism.”
As the largest health center in Connecticut, CHC is well-positioned to lead this innovative program and ensure that women transitioning from incarceration receive the healthcare and support needed for a successful reintegration.
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