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Making the Transition

The period immediately after release from prison is one of the most vulnerable for people with chronic illnesses. The Post-Release Wellness Project (PRWP) is an innovative model designed to promote the health and well being of newly released prisoners--Community Health Workers are at the heart of its success. The model has been developed through the partnership of three organizations: Transitions Clinic, the Health Education and Community Health Studies Department of City College of San Francisco, and Legal Services for Prisoners with Children.

Transitions Clinic, based in the Bayview/Hunters Point district of San Francisco, is a unique, community-based, patient-centered clinic dedicated to serving San Francisco’s recent parolees who have chronic health conditions by providing primary health care and access to social workers, substance abuse counseling and mental health services. The clinic’s community health worker is a powerful advocate who plays a pivotal role through outreach, case management, and helping to link people to a range of health, social and educational serices.

City College of San Francisco provides the educational foundation for this model through the development of a specialty-training certificate for people who want to serve patients with a history of incarceration. Through a series of classes that expose students to the unique health concerns facing the formerly incarcerated, graduates are prepared to support patients’ successful reentry to their communities. Through PRWP, four courses about incarceration and health have been developed; the first one being taught Fall of 2008 at City College.

LSPC conducted three focus groups with formerly incarcerated people to shape the development of this project. We also convened a Community Advisory Board made up of community based organizational leaders to assist us in assessing the ways we could improve community health care for the formerly incarcerated. LSPC and All of Us or None lead the project's policy/advocacy component by challenging systemic barriers to successful re-entry.

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