A Novel Reentry Hotline Led by Community Health Workers to Address the Health Needs of People Returning From Incarceration

Transitions Clinic Network, California, June 2020‒June 2023

Bibliographic Data

ID11027718
AuthorsBethany Divakaran (0009-0009-7906-9302, Bethany Divakaran, Anna Steiner, Sharon Fennix, and Shira Shavit are with the Transitions Clinic Network (TCN), a project of the San Francisco Public Health Foundation. Shira Shavit is also with the University of California San Francisco Department of Family and Community Medicine. Sidney Lin is with the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.), Anna Steiner (Bethany Divakaran, Anna Steiner, Sharon Fennix, and Shira Shavit are with the Transitions Clinic Network (TCN), a project of the San Francisco Public Health Foundation. Shira Shavit is also with the University of California San Francisco Department of Family and Community Medicine. Sidney Lin is with the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.), Sidney Lin (Bethany Divakaran, Anna Steiner, Sharon Fennix, and Shira Shavit are with the Transitions Clinic Network (TCN), a project of the San Francisco Public Health Foundation. Shira Shavit is also with the University of California San Francisco Department of Family and Community Medicine. Sidney Lin is with the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.), Sharon Fennix (Bethany Divakaran, Anna Steiner, Sharon Fennix, and Shira Shavit are with the Transitions Clinic Network (TCN), a project of the San Francisco Public Health Foundation. Shira Shavit is also with the University of California San Francisco Department of Family and Community Medicine. Sidney Lin is with the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.), Shira Shavit (0000-0002-4132-0129, Bethany Divakaran, Anna Steiner, Sharon Fennix, and Shira Shavit are with the Transitions Clinic Network (TCN), a project of the San Francisco Public Health Foundation. Shira Shavit is also with the University of California San Francisco Department of Family and Community Medicine. Sidney Lin is with the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.)
Year2025
Volume115
Issue4
Pages477-480
Publication date2025-04-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2024.307969
PMID39946675
OpenAlexW4407489493
LanguageEN
References cited7

Community members returning from incarceration experience serious health disparities, which intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, community health workers with lived experience of incarceration in the Transitions Clinic Network established a California reentry health care hotline to support time-sensitive linkages to postrelease medical care. From June 2020 to June 2023, the hotline supported 1276 people transitioning from incarceration. Lessons from this peer-led public health intervention are relevant for states utilizing Medicaid waivers to improve health equity for justice-involved populations. ( Am J Public Health. 2025;115(4):477–480. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307969 )

Criminal justice · Criminology · Family medicine · Health care · Health equity · Hotline · Mass incarceration · Medicaid · Political science · Public health · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Health Policy Implementation Science · Medicine · Nursing · Primary Care and Health Outcomes · Psychology · Gerontology

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