The high rate of incarceration in the United States contributes significantly to the nation's health inequities, extending beyond those who are imprisoned to families, communities, and the entire society. Since the 1970s, there has been a seven-fold increase in incarceration. This increase and the effects of the post-incarceration reentry disproportionately affect low-income families and communities of color. It is critical to examine the criminal justice system through a new lens and explore opportunities for meaningful improvements that will promote health equity in the United States. The National Academies convened a workshop on June 6, 2018 to investigate the connection between incarceration and health inequities to better understand the distributive impact of incarceration on low-income families and communities of color. Topics of discussion focused on the experience of incarceration and reentry, mass incarceration as a public health issue, women's health in jails and prisons, the effects of reentry on the individual and the community, and promising practices and models for reentry. The programs and models that are described in this publication are all Philadelphia-based because Philadelphia has one of the highest rates of incarceration of any major American city. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions of the workshop.

Contents

• The National Academies of SCIENCES • ENGINEERING • MEDICINE
• PLANNING COMMITTEE ON THE IMPACT OF INCARCERATION AND REENTRY ON COMMUNITY HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
• ROUNDTABLE ON THE PROMOTION OF HEALTH EQUITY
• Reviewers
• 1. Introduction
  • ORGANIZATION OF THE PROCEEDINGS
• 2. The Experience of Incarceration and Reentry
  • A NARRATIVE OF HOPELESSNESS
  • A MANUFACTURED CRISIS
  • THE SIREN SONG OF THE STREETS
  • PUBLIC SAFETY AND PUBLIC HEALTH
  • A CONVERSATION ABOUT HOPE
• 3. Mass Incarceration as a Public Health Issue
  • INCARCERATION AND HEALTH
  • EFFECTS ON COMMUNITIES AND FAMILIES
  • THE CHANGING PROFILE OF THE INCARCERATED POPULATION
  • THE DRIVERS OF MASS INCARCERATION
  • PREVENTION, DIVERSION, AND REENTRY
• 4. Women's Health in Jails and Prisons
  • WOMEN IN JAIL
  • A TWO-GENERATION APPROACH
  • IMPROVING NUTRITION IN JAILS AND PRISONS
  • SUPPORT UPON REENTRY
  • KEEPING MOTHERS OUT OF JAIL AND REDUCING THE NUMBER OF WOMEN WHO ARE INCARCERATED
• 5. Reentry: Effects on the Individual and the Community
  • LIVING IN A HIGH REENTRY COMMUNITY
  • FAMILY SUPPORT
  • MAINTAINING A COMMUNITY CONTEXT
  • CHANGING COMMUNITY ATTITUDES
• 6. Promising Practices and Models for Reentry
  • APPLYING THE ANTICARCERAL MOVEMENT TO PHILADELPHIA
  • HARM REDUCTION
  • A SMARTPHONE-BASED INTERVENTION
  • MARIJUANA VIOLATIONS
  • BROADER ISSUES
• 7. The Perspective from the District Attorney's Office
  • SENTENCING REFORMS
  • REDUCTIONS IN THE INCARCERATED POPULATION
  • DIVERSION PROGRAMS
  • CHANGES IN SUPERVISION
  • BARRIERS AND OPPORTUNITIES
• 8. Wrap-Up Session
• Appendix A. References
• Appendix B. Workshop Agenda
• Appendix C. Speaker Biographical Sketches
• Appendix D. Statement of Task

Suggested citation:

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. The effects of incarceration and reentry on community health and well-being: Proceedings of a workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25471.

Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/25471

Additional copies of this publication are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu.

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