Lane County Health & Human Services awarded HRSA grant to fund jail transition-of-care team

Lane County Health & Human Services on Jan. 7 told the Board of Commissioners it has received a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant to provide transition-of-care services for people incarcerated in the county jail.

Eve Grama, director of Health & Human Services, said the grant will fund a nurse case manager, two peer positions and a half-time office assistant who will work with incarcerated individuals to develop health and social-service plans that begin during incarceration and continue after release. The county noted the grant restricts services to post-sentencing people for now; county staff said expansion to pretrial detainees is expected once Adult Medicaid 1115 coverage changes are implemented for adults (staff referenced anticipated dates for expanded coverage in program planning discussion).

Grama described the work as a pilot and part of a broader set of partnerships, including collaboration with Emergence, Laurel Hill, Restored Connections Peer Recovery Center and other community partners. She said the program will build trust through peers with lived experience and try to reduce the cycle of repeated incarceration by creating rapid connections to health centers and social supports on release.

The board approved Order 25-01-07-16, which authorizes contract actions with multiple partners (listed in the board order) and delegates execution authority to the county administrator or designee. The motion passed 5-0. Commissioners acknowledged the new work as an example of county public-health and public-safety partnership.

County staff said the grant will help prepare systems to expand services when policy and Medicaid coverage change, and that the county is participating in national learning about how health centers and jails collaborate on transitions from custody back into the community.