New Report Highlights Opportunities to Improve Care for People with Mental Illness Returning to Communities after Incarceration

New Report Highlights Opportunities to Improve Care for People with Mental Illness Returning to Communities after Incarceration

Oct 24, 2023

To advance policies that support successful reentry after incarceration, NAMI partnered with the Health and Reentry Project (HARP) on their new issue brief, titled “Paving the Path to Healthier Reentry:  How New Medicaid Policies Can Improve Mental Health and Substance Use Support as People Return to Communities.” NAMI is also providing resources to advocates who are working to improve care in their states for people returning to communities after incarceration.

“Successful reentry begins in the weeks and months before someone is released. That’s why it is critical that we provide support for people with mental illness who are leaving incarcerated settings,” said NAMI Chief Advocacy Officer Hannah Wesolowski. “We are thankful to HARP for the opportunity to elevate the importance of this issue for people with mental illness and are hopeful that these resources will help NAMI advocates fight for this change in every state.”

People with mental health conditions are overrepresented in our nation’s jails and prisons and when people leave incarceration, there are many challenges to successfully reentering their communities. New policies that allow Medicaid to cover some services prior to people being released from prison or jail have the potential to improve the health and wellbeing of people with mental health and substance use conditions, HARP's new issue brief, supported by NAMI, describes these changes and the opportunities they create to improve care for people with mental health conditions and substance use disorders as they return to communities.