Evaluation of Policies to Increase Access and Quality of Reproductive Healthcare in Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility

• In Event: Reproductive Justice and Incarceration

Abstract

Incarcerated people—especially Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, women, and LGBTQ+ people—have specific and significant reproductive needs. Most incarcerated people are in peak reproductive years and have histories of physical and/or sexual violence, contributing to higher rates of serious medical conditions including sexually transmitted diseases that often go untreated. They face barriers to accessing reproductive healthcare during incarceration, including a lack of services, high costs associated with seeking services, and poor quality of care. California Assembly Bill 732 was signed into law in September 2020 with the goal of increasing reproductive healthcare access and quality for incarcerated people and pregnant incarcerated people in state prisons and county jails. The Urban Institute was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to conduct a mixed-methods study to understand to what extent AB-732 increases access to and quality of reproductive healthcare for incarcerated people and advances racial equity in health and wellbeing in a San Diego county women’s jail. This paper will present study findings and recommendations drawn from interviews with incarcerated people and individual-level administrative and health data.

Authors

• Evelyn McCoy, Urban Institute

• Azhar Gulaid, Urban Institute

• Ammar Khalid, Urban Institute

• Emily Wright, Urban Institute