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Abstract #154010

Irene Glasser, PhD¹, Ramon Rojano, MD, MPH², and Reinaldo Rojas, MSW². (1) Research and Planning, Community Renewal Team, 555 Windsor Street, Hartford, CT 06120, 860-560-5636, glasseri@crtct.org, (2) Department of Health and Human Services, City of Hartford, 131 Coventry Street, Hartford, CT 06112

Each year, over 2,000 individuals are released from prison and return to the Hartford region. The Department of Correction estimates that 85% of the offenders have significant substance abuse problems, which puts the individual at increased risk for HIV and hepatitis C and increases their risk of re-offending

The focus of this poster is the evaluation of a SAMHSA-funded project, the Metro Prevention Coalition for the Prevention of HIV, Hepatitis, and Substance Abuse in the Re-Entry Minority Population, a collaboration among the Health Departments of Hartford and three neighboring communities. The project delivers services to the minority re-entry community and suggests structural and policy changes that would facilitate the reduction of the incidence and prevalence of substance abuse, HIV and Hepatitis C.

The evaluation documents the process by which over 30 governmental and community organizations come together to plan an intervention and policy change strategy. The coalition building was aided by a needs assessment, which found that the re-entry population community faced significant barriers to accessing services. The evaluation also documents the impact of the Re-entry Partnership Initiative (RPI), the evidence-based intervention chosen by the coalition to best address the gaps in services for the individuals leaving prison and jail. The RPI workers meets the newly released offender in community settings, working with them for two months to give them information, referrals, and support. The evaluation measures the impact of RPI on substance abuse and on HIV and hepatitis risk behaviors using a SAMHSA-developed tool and local questions.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the gaps in service faced by indivdiuals leaving prisons and jails as they attempt to re-entry the community and not relapse in their drug use.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of a coalition building program that focused the substance abuse, HIV, and hepatitis service providers on the re-entry population.
• Analyze the outcomes of an evidence based intervention evaluation on the ability of the re-entry community to reduce their risk of drug use relapse and reduce their risk behaviors for HIV and hepatitis C.

Keywords: Drug Abuse Treatment, Coalition

Related Web page: www.crtct.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.