Thursday, November 21, 2024
11/21/2024
Project ECHO at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center (UNMHSC) is requesting funding through the Minority Health Research program to launch a two-year evaluation of multi-level interventions that support the reentry of individuals released from jails or prisons in New Mexico in partnership with the New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD). In 2020, Project ECHO partnered with NMCD to launch the Community Peer Education Project (CPEP) to address the significant health disparities that people exiting incarceration experience when they reenter their community. This program uses the ECHO model to create a holistic ecosystem that supports Peer Educators, individuals exiting incarceration, and Probation Officers in promoting successful community reentry after incarceration. The CPEP team provides formerly incarcerated individuals 20 hours of virtual training before employing them as Community Peer Educators. Once the Community Peer Educators are trained, they become subject matter experts and host weekly ECHO sessions that bring individuals exiting incarceration together to empower them with the life skills they’ll need to navigate reentry into the community successfully. The ECHO model allows the Peer Educators and program participants to interact in a non-hierarchical environment and supports the development of long-term mentoring relationships. These weekly ECHO sessions are supplemented with one-on-one support from Peer Educators who provide program participants with individualized support, referrals to community-based resources, and feedback. Finally, the CPEP Program holds a biweekly ECHO training session with NMCD Probation and Parole Officers to capture best practices and identify potential gaps in the services provided to individuals on adult supervision. Together, these programs create a social support network for individuals exiting incarceration that provides the context for connecting people exiting incarceration to community resources that address issues related to social determinants of health (housing instability, food insecurity, transportation, etc.) and provides crucial community-clinical linkages, including supporting individuals in signing up for Medicare/Medicaid as appropriate and securing a primary care physician or healthcare home. Research Questions Our primary research question is: 1) What is the impact of CPEP on health disparities, and what factors impact health disparities among people recently released from incarceration? Our secondary research questions are: 1) How do CPEP participants define success for themselves? 2) What are the barriers and facilitators to success post-release? 3) What is the impact of CPEP on probation and parole officers? We will use a mixed methods approach to answer these research questions, including a prospective cohort study of people on community supervision. Throughout our study, we will use the community engagement model, including recruiting and convening a peer advisement team to provide feedback on research tools, recruitment methods, interpretation of results, and dissemination.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
