Prisoner Linkage Project with Montefiore-Rikers Island Health Service (MRIHS)

Project Background and Goals:

Initially begun in 1992 in collaboration with the Montefiore/Rikers Island Health Services at the Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM), CDN received a grant in 1994 from the Design Industries Foundation For AIDS (DIFFA) to develop a linkage between Montefiore/Rikers Island and CDN member Community/Migrant Health Centers (C/MHCs) for HIV+ inmates.

In January 1996 CDN was funded by the Department of Corrections (DOC) to extend the DIFFA-funded initiative to the Substance Abuse Intervention Division (SAID), OASAS Women's Program at the Rose M. Singer Center at Rikers Island, ending in June 1996. SAID operates a 100-bed residential intervention program for substance abusing women at this site, funded by the New York Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS). The program is a modified therapeutic community in which participants receive a full range of group and individual services daily, including group and individual counseling, psychosocial assessment, treatment and discharge planning. CDN conducted in-prison education and placement for released HIV+ inmates through visits to discuss health and related topics relevant to the inmates. 

This project focused on the OASAS Women's Program due to a compelling need to provide post-release services to women. Of over 100,000 inmates who pass yearly through Rikers Island, it is estimated that over 26% of the women are HIV+. Once discharged, there are no ongoing medical services provided to these women. The women at Rikers Island have multiple competing life problems including poverty, homelessness and drug addiction. As a result, primary care is often a low priority. This program enabled released female inmates to obtain expedited appointments and access to ongoing primary and HIV medical care. While the project focused on health care to HIV+/AIDS released inmates, the community health centers also provided other services to women, such as case management, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics, WIC and drug rehabilitation.