Apply Now: Medicaid and Corrections Policy Academy

The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center and Center for Health Care Strategies are excited to announce a six-month Medicaid and Corrections Policy Academy on behalf of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, a component of the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs. The Policy Academy will bring together teams of senior executive agency leaders from four to six states to develop multi-sector collaborative planning to leverage for improving reentry outcomes for people involved in the justice system with complex needs.

The Policy Academy is a dedicated forum and intensive training and technical assistance opportunity for policymakers leading state corrections, Medicaid, and behavioral health agencies. These cross-agency teams will work together to develop a shared vision for reentry services, build partnerships, and identify strategies to harness Medicaid (to include the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)) potential to improve access to health coverage, care, and reentry outcomes. Teams will develop action plans to address the challenges of implementing reentry best practices related to Medicaid.

Policy Academy Dates

  • Optional Virtual Applicant Informational Meeting: July 17, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. ET (Register here)
  • Application Deadline: 8:00 p.m. ET on July 26, 2024
  • Pre-Decision Meetings with State Teams: July 30–August 6, 2024
  • Selection Announcement: August 22, 2024
  • Project Period: August 22, 2024–February 28, 2025
  • Virtual Kickoff Meeting (1 hour): September 10, 2024
  • In-person Policy Academy in Washington, DC (1.75 days): October 28–29, 2024
  • Virtual Peer Learning Sessions (1–2 hours): August, September, November, December 2024, January, and February 2025

  • Technical assistance calls with subject matter experts: August 2024–February 2025

    • Technical assistance topics may include implementing reentry best practices such as enrollment suspension and reinstatement for Medicaid and CHIP, effecting secure linkages to community-based care, strengthening systems for information sharing, implementing medication-assisted treatment, and other approaches to closing gaps and creating pathways for Medicaid and CHIP to help fund care coordination services during reentry.

What can states expect to accomplish during the policy academy?

State teams selected to participate in the Policy Academy will do the following to develop multi-sector collaborative plans to leverage Medicaid for people involved in the justice system with complex needs:

  • Identify and leverage a working group or planning body aligned with the team’s work. State teams should consider how existing statewide advisory, planning, and policymaking councils and boards can support their efforts.
  • Engage as a team in pre-work with intensive one-on-one technical assistance as desired, participate in a virtual kickoff meeting, and attend an in-person two-day meeting and a series of virtual meetings.
  • Develop a shared understanding of state Medicaid structure, covered services, and vehicles for care coordination as they relate to the structure for providing medical and behavioral health services in state and local corrections systems, reentry case planning, information sharing, and service delivery.
  • Develop a shared vision and identify priority opportunities for partnership and policy to close gaps and use Medicaid to create funding pathways for care coordination services during reentry in areas such as stakeholder engagement, enrollment suspension and reinstatement for Medicaid, defining a priority population, screening and assessment, collaborative comprehensive case plans, medication management, ensuring connection to community-based care, strengthening systems for information sharing, and related data collection.
  • Complete an action plan to identify areas of need and collaborative strategies the state can take to leverage Medicaid to improve access to evidence-based physical and behavioral health services pre- and post-release for people with mental illnesses, substance use disorders, and co-occurring chronic disorders. Examples include improving processes related to stakeholder engagement, including the voices of people with lived experience, suspending and reinstating Medicaid, defining a priority population, screening and assessment, collaborative comprehensive case management, and data and information sharing.
  • Review data collection, use, and sharing practices, including the availability of current data, to inform clinical, program, and policy planning according to the characteristics and physical and behavioral health needs of affected populations, such as young adults up to age 21 and youth formerly in the foster care system up to age (see Background and Recent Federal Policy Changes to learn more).
  • Receive targeted, one-on-one technical assistance from CSG Justice Center staff.

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Groundswell of Support to Continue the Second Chance Act: More than 150 Organizations Nationwide Support Reauthorization

The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center and 175 organizations from across the country have signed a letter urging Congress to support reauthorization of the Second Chance Act (SCA). The organizations represent a broad range of sectors including behavioral health, business, faith communities, law enforcement, and others. The bipartisan legislation extends and enhances reentry programs that provide critical services around career training, housing, childcare, and treatment for people with behavioral health and substance use disorders.

The organizations in support joined the CSG Justice Center in emphasizing the value of SCA programs in strengthening reentry services, reducing recidivism, and improving public safety. The letter urges leaders of the House and Senate judiciary committees to advance this critical piece of legislation and provide individuals, families, and communities nationwide with access to services and resources that will help ensure the success of people reentering society after incarceration.

Since the Second Chance Act passed 15 years ago, over 1,100 grants totaling more than $600 million have been administered to 845 agencies across 49 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, local and Tribal governments, as well as reentry-focused nonprofit organizations. Between 2009 and 2023, SCA grants impacted more than 442,000 people involved in the criminal justice system who participated in reentry services or parole and probation programs.

With over 600,000 people returning home from prison each year and even more exiting local jails, SCA programs are vital to ensuring public safety and reducing recidivism rates.

Reauthorization of the Second Chance Act will extend critical programs to reduce recidivism, invest in communities, and promote public safety by continuing to:

  • Reauthorize key grant programs that provide vital services, supports, and resources for people reentering their communities after incarceration;
  • Expand allowable uses for supportive and transitional housing services for people reentering their communities from prison and jail; and
  • Enhance addiction treatment services for people with substance use disorders, including peer recovery services, case management, and overdose prevention.

Legislation to reauthorize the Second Chance Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate on June 5, 2024 (S. 4477) by Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Cory Booker (D-NJ), John Cornyn (R-TX), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Peter Welch (D-VT), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).

It was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in April (H.R. 8028) by Representatives Carol Miller (R-WV), Danny Davis (D-IL), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Bruce Westerman (R-AR), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Mike Turner (R-OH), and Darin LaHood (R-IL).

READ THE NATIONAL SUPPORT LETTER

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