D.C. clinic provides care for ex-prisoners; Texas lawmakers seek ways to help jails with homeless, ill prisoners

Sep 19 2012

Several news outlets look at issues related to prisoner health.

Kaiser Health News: Medicaid Helps D.C. Clinic Care For Ex-Prisoners
Dr. Ilse Levin specializes in internal medicine, but you could say she really focuses on incarceration medicine. Levin works at a community health center in southeast Washington, D.C., that pays a lot of attention to treating a population that is often left out of health care: newly released prisoners (Schultz, 9/17). 

Reuters: Alabama's Segregation For Inmates With HIV Faces Court Scrutiny
Alabama, one of two U.S. states that segregate inmates with HIV from the rest of their prison population, will seek to defend the policy against a class action lawsuit. ... The American Civil Liberties Union sued Alabama in 2011 for what the group contends is a discriminatory practice that prevents most HIV-positive inmates from participating in rehabilitation and retraining programs important for their success after prison (Gates, 9/17).

The Dallas Morning News: Texas Legislators To Weigh Problems To Help County Jails Deal With Homeless, Mentally Ill
Texas lawmakers are looking for ways to relieve overcrowding at county jails, which have become expensive holding areas for the addicted, homeless and mentally ill in a time of reduced budgets and cut programs. The House County Affairs Committee is conducting hearings in Houston on Tuesday to see how to detour those in need of treatment to cheaper and more effective alternatives (Martin, 9/17).