Understanding How Halfway House Residents Perceive and Access Healthcare During the Transition from Prison to the Community

• In Event: Engaging Former Prisoners in Health Care to Improve Reentry

Abstract

Residents in Connecticut’s halfway houses currently fall under one of two legal statuses which have major implications for residents’ access to Medicaid coverage and healthcare. “Inmates” are ineligible for federally-funded Medicaid and must return to jail clinics to access any health services, while “parolees” may enroll in Medicaid and receive community-based services. This paper presents preliminary results from semi-structured interviews with DOC and halfway house staff and focus groups with halfway house residents exploring access and barriers to care. Focus groups are designed to compare the experiences of residents classified as “inmates,” who return to jail clinics for care, and “parolees” with access to Medicaid-funded community-based care to gauge differences in whether, when and how they seek care; how they perceive the change in care from prison to community; opinions on the value of health insurance coverage; and challenges to obtaining care. Staff interviews investigate challenges and barriers to care from a programmatic standpoint, including institutional factors that may affect care. Findings will shed light on whether Medicaid coverage improves treatment continuity for individuals in halfway houses. Future work on this study will assess how healthcare utilization in halfway houses may have distal effects on employment and recidivism.

Authors

• Ellen M. Paddock, Urban Institute

• Kamala Mallik-Kane, Urban Institute

• Emily Tiry, Urban Institute