The role of prevention in promoting continuity of health care in prisoner reentry initiatives.

Most incarcerated individuals will return to the community, and their successful reentry requires consideration of their health and how their health will affect their families and communities. We propose the use of a prevention science framework that integrates universal, selective, and indicated strategies to facilitate the successful reentry of men released from prison. Understanding how health risks and disparities affect the transition from prison to the community will enhance reentry intervention efforts. To explore the application of the prevention rubric, we evaluated a community-based prisoner reentry initiative. The findings challenge all involved in reentry initiatives to reconceptualize prisoner reentry from a program model to a prevention model that considers multilevel risks to and facilitators of successful reentry.

Increasing Outreach, Connection, and Services to Low-Income Non-Custodial Fathers: How Did We Get Here and What Do We Know.

This paper documents a model for outreaching, connecting, and serving low-income, ethnically diverse, non-custodial fathers. Men are engaged "where they are" by building their strengths and addressing their needs. The Male Involvement Network's (MIN) collaborative model was created in Connecticut to help fathers become positive and healthy role models by increasing their attachment to their children and families (Smith, 2003). This clinically informed, case management model addresses their physical, emotional, mental, economic and spiritual health needs. Through a relational approach and social modeling it includes skill development in education, economic stability, family/child support, and mental and physical health. Implications for testing this approach are suggested.