Health Center Program award recipients: Innovative Approaches to Supporting Transitions in Care for Justice-Involved Individuals

Health Center Program award recipients: Innovative Approaches to Supporting Transitions in Care for Justice-Involved Individuals is sponsored by Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). This initiative focuses on supporting individuals leaving incarceration by providing health services during the critical 90 days before release, assisting justice-impacted individuals with their return to the community by expanding access to primary healthcare—including mental h…

HRSA offers funds to aid care transitions for justice-involved individuals | National Association of Counties HRSA offers funds to aid care transitions for justice-involved individuals Associate Director for Grassroots & Legislative Advocacy Rural Resilience & Strategic Responses to the Opioid Epidemic Strategies for Sustainable Retiree Health Benefits Partnerships drive better community health, leaders say NACo endorses bipartisan legislation to help volunteer first responders access affordable housing CMS Issues Interim Final Rule on Medicaid Community Engagement Requirements HHS announced a new $51 million funding opportunity to support innovative approaches for transitions in healthcare for people 90 day prior to leaving incarceration.

Uninterrupted health care helps those who enter the criminal justice system break the cycle of recidivism exacerbated by untreated physical and mental illnesses and substance use disorders. Counties are required by federal law to provide adequate health care for approximately 10. 6 million individuals who pass through 3,100 local jails each year with an average length of stay of 25 days.

County governments operate 2,875 of our nation’s 3,160 local jails, admitting approximately 11 million individuals across the United States each year. Many of these individuals have mental health or substance use issues, with serious mental illnesses being three to four times more prevalent among jail inmates than the general population.

America’s local jail population includes an estimated 40 percent of people with a serious chronic health condition, 44 percent with a major mental health illness and 63 percent with a substance use disorder.

Leveraging community health centers to deliver health services to incarcerated individuals for 90 days before their release will benefit both counties and their residents in the following ways: Individuals impacted by the justice system will experience better continuity of care and improved health outcomes as they reintegrate into the community.

Successful reintegration of justice involved individuals into the community will reduce rates of jail recidivism attributable to untreated substance use disorder and mental illness. Improved care continuity for justice involved individuals reduces emergency room and hospital utilization rates for this population, which alleviates associated cost burdens on the county.

Health Center Program award recipients are invited to apply for this grant to execute innovative approaches to supporting transitions in care for people leaving incarceration. Funding should be used to implement strategies to address the risk of drug overdose, treatment for mental health and substance use disorder, management of chronic conditions and prevention, identification and treatment of infectious diseases.

Funding can be used to provide case management services addressing social determinants of health . This application is currently open to eligible Health Center Program award recipients. There are expected to be approximately 51 recipients with a maximum individual award of $1,000,000.

Applications are due through Grants. gov on June 10, and through HRSA Electronic Handbooks on July 2. Partnerships drive better community health, leaders say Participants in NACo's Public Health Leadership Academy focused on building trust between public health professionals and elected leaders.

NACo endorses bipartisan legislation to help volunteer first responders access affordable housing On June 10, Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.

D.) reintroduced the Volunteer First Responder Housing Act (S. 4737), bipartisan legislation that would help qualified volunteer first responders access affordable housing.

CMS Issues Interim Final Rule on Medicaid Community Engagement Requirements On June 1, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an Interim Final Rule with Comment Period (IFR) establishing binding standards for how states must implement Medicaid community engagement ("work") requirements enacted under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P. L. 119-21), also referred to as H.

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