Newswise — During the COVID-19 public health emergency, more than 2,000 prisoners in New Jersey were released on Nov. 4, 2020—one of the largest rapid reductions of a state prison population in the United States.
This large-scale prisoner release “stress tested” the services system—social and health programs to help prisoners successfully transition from prison to community life—for their reentry into society and illuminated gaps between service provision and needs of former inmates, according to a study by the Rutgers University Center for Health Services Research.
“Some of the challenges were attributable to the impact of COVID-19, such as fewer opportunities for employment and housing, and changes to community services like reduced business hours, difficulty connecting with resources, Zoom-only health services and appointment only DMV services,” said lead author Peter Treitler, a research specialist at the Center for Health Services Research, a unit of Rutgers' Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research. “But many of the reentry challenges reported were consistent with long-standing systemic issues, which would be difficult to address without broader reform.”
These challenges include ineligibility for certain community resources based on conviction status, limited employment opportunities and a dearth of housing resources.
Lessons learned from New Jersey’s experience are important for states and correctional systems using large-scale prisoner releases to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The research team, including researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with technical support from The Pew Charitable Trusts, interviewed former prisoners with pre-existing substance use disorders. These individuals were asked about their experiences in prison during the pandemic; how prepared they were for release; experience with addiction treatment, including medications for opioid use disorder; the availability and use of services in the community; and challenges and unmet needs.
The study found that factors that affected a prisoner's return to the community included less time for reentry planning, miscommunication and paperwork errors; disruptions to planned prison vocational and educational services; and difficulty securing valid government IDs before release.
Despite these challenges, all respondents completed the New Jersey Department of Corrections’ reentry planning process before release, including applying for Medicaid and other public benefits. Released inmates were connected to social service organizations for aid with housing, benefits, health care and other needs. All were provided with the option to receive medications for opioid use disorder while they were incarcerated and with prescriptions or community referrals to continue treatment.
According to Treitler, additional resources should be available to reentry service providers to scale up operations in the months following a large-scale release.
Recommendations include streamlining official IDs for prisoner releases, stationing reentry organization staff at prisoner drop-off sites to provide immediate help in the community and ensuring people get their Medicaid card and know how to access their Medicaid benefits. Smartphone training and funding should be included in reentry planning for people who need health service access.
The researchers also say that meeting the needs of released prisoners with substance-use disorders has long been a challenge, but that it may be further complicated during large-scale releases, which can overwhelm an already under-resourced reentry service system. The researchers recommended that those with opioid-use disorder should be provided medication and connected to community-based substance use and mental health providers.
The work was supported by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies as part of the Bloomberg Opioid Overdose Prevention Initiative.
Co-authors of this study include Madeline H. Bono at Rutgers’ Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, and Stephen Crystal, director of the Rutgers Center for Health Services Research, and a Distinguished researcher at Rutgers’ School of Social Work, and researchers from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
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