A Classification of Health Needs and Criminogenic Risk in a Community Corrections Sample

• In Event: Addressing Health Needs During Community Supervision

Abstract

Justice-involved individuals find themselves at the center of converging health crises, including the opioid epidemic, COVID-19 pandemic, and HCV epidemic, among others. High levels of comorbidity including mental illness and chronic underlying medical conditions, combined with low health literacy, increase the risk of morbidity and mortality for this group, especially as they face high-risk transitions from institutional and community based correctional facilities. Existing evidence that health issues among justice-involved individuals likely affect reentry and recidivism, even if through indirect pathways, would suggest that elevation of health needs within correctional treatment may be warranted. Few studies have applied structural equation models (SEM) to evaluate pathways between health and criminogenic risk factors. This study uses a cross-sectional sample of more than 400 adults from 11 corrections programs in Southwest Ohio. Study measures include demographics, substance use, mental health, medical history, insurance status, vaccine beliefs and uptake, health literacy, and criminogenic risk. Preliminary results show that more than half of the sample has inadequate health literacy with no significant differences based on sex and race. Exploratory factor analysis and SEM will be used to examine interrelationships of variables, determine the covariance structure, and classify strength of association between health and criminogenic risk factors.

Authors

• Kimberly Sperber, Talbert House

• Alexander L. Burton, University of Texas at Dallas

• Karli Province, University of Cincinnati

• Aaron Vissman, Talbert House

• Laura Nolterieke, University of Cincinnati