Creating a Jail Linkage Program Curriculum: Introduction

IHIP

In this chapter

What is this guide and how is it broken up?

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The implementation guide addresses the needs of individuals and organizations wanting to create a more unified health care system between the community and the jail setting. It is meant to inform implementation of a new jail linkage program and to help organizations strategize how to expand current jail work, including formalizing existing partnerships or creating new ones. Separate sections are dedicated to new and existing jail programs. Activities that were conducted across the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) HIV/AIDS Bureau’s (HAB’s) Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Enhancing Linkages to HIV Primary Care & Services in Jail Settings Initiative (EnhanceLink) project are summarized. Evaluation findings and published reports from EnhanceLink, along with interviews of its grantees, inform this guide. This implementation guide is part of the Integrating HIV Innovative Practices (IHIP) program that promoted replication and dissemination of successful SPNS initiatives.

The guide offers programmatic steps and planning questions as well as useful templates to get started on jail linkage work. Templates, however, are just that and should be modified for your site and the jail in which you are working.

Who is the target audience?

Target audiences include AIDS service organizations, community-based organizations, Ryan White HIV/ AIDS Program grantees and providers, and local health departments. Jail health administrators may find the information herein to be helpful in discussions around establishing or modifying a jail linkage program; however, they are not the primary audience for this guide.

What other resources accompany this guide?

A jail linkages training manual accompanies this guide and outlines the best practices and lessons learned from the SPNS EnhanceLink project. The manual provides a platform through which to understand the jail environment, the nature of linkage work, and its associated outcomes. Reading the training manual is recommended prior to carrying out the steps of this implementation guide. A Webinar training series is also taking place. All of these materials, including archives of the Webinars, and other SPNS training materials are housed at Integrating HIV Innovative Practices (IHIP).

What are the educational goals?

The goal of this implementation guide is to increase the comfort level of its audience with jail linkage work and empower the audience either to embark on new programs or to expand existing ones.

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