NC Formerly Incarcerated Transition Program
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In 2024, 20,883 people were released from North Carolina prisons. Upon release, individuals are frequently without housing, employment, health insurance, or access to healthcare services. The North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transition (NC FIT) Program, sponsored by UNC Family Medicine, connects formerly incarcerated individuals who have a chronic disease, mental illness and/or substance use disorder with essential health services and reentry resources. Community Health Workers (CHWs) with lived experience of incarceration, lead these efforts. The NC FIT Program is a partnership between: The NC FIT Program employs Community Health Workers (CHWs) with a personal history of incarceration. CHWs connect recently released people with chronic disease, mental illness and/or substance use disorder to appropriate health care services and helps put together a comprehensive reentry plan working with local reentry partners. The NC FIT Program is based on the Transitions Clinic Network model that has shown improved outcomes for participants. The NC FIT Program is a member of this nationwide network of 40 clinical sites. Partners: Durham County Department of Public Health, Lincoln Community Health Center, The Durham Local Reentry Council Contact: Quanesha Archer | qmarcher@dconc.gov | (919) 560-7098 Contact: Tina Clayton | tclayton@dconc.gov | (919)-560-7214 Partners: Orange County Department of Public Health, Piedmont Health Services, Inc., Orange County Reentry Council Contact: Dana Crews | dcrews@orangecountync.gov | (919) 943-5983 Contact: Tommy Green | hgreen@orangecountync.gov | (919) 339-2410 Contact: Shatocka Carlton | scarlton@orangecountync.gov | (919) 245-2397 Partners: UNC Department of Psychiatry, UNC Healthcare at UNC REACH, Advance Community Health Center, Wake County Local Reentry Council Contact: Jennifer Wade | jennifer_wade@med.unc.edu | Office: (984) 974-4818 | Cell: (919) 322-8185 Contact: Dwight Walker | dwight_walker@med.unc.edu | (984)-974-4818 Contact: Sheila Bonilla (FIT Wellness)| sheilab1@email.unc.edu Contact: Shawn Baker (FIT Wellness)| shawn_baker@med.unc.edu | (984) 974-4857 Partners: The Center for Community Transitions, Charlotte Community Health Clinic, Re-entry Partners of Mecklenburg Contact: Deborah Rose | drose@centerforcommunitytransitions.org | Office: (704)-374-0762 ext: 3711 Contact: Rishod Dendy | adendy@centerforcommunitytransitions.org | Office: (704) 374-0762 ext. 3712 Partners: Triad Adult Pediatric Medicine, Contact: Shawn Jackson | shjackson@tapmedicine.com | (336)-840-9257 Contact: Vernice Smith | vsmith@tapmedicine.com | (336)-840-9621 Partners: MedNorth Health Center, Leading into New Communities (LINC), Inc. Contact: Michelle Gunn | mgunn@lincnc.org | (910)-332-1134 Contact: Demond Wells | dwells@lincnc.org | (910) 332-1132 Contact: Tasha Majette | tmajette@lincnc.org | (910) 292-8251 Partners: Mountain Area Health Education Center, Operation Gateway Contact: Kelby Benjamin | kelby@operationgateway.org | (828)-203-4644 Visit Website Operation Gateway Partners: Agape Health Services Contact: Lester Howard | lhoward@agapechc.org | (252)-408-2955 FIT Recovery is a program to identify people in the state prison system that suffer from opioid use disorder and to initiate treatment and medication for opioid use disorder prior to release. This is a collaboration between the prison system, the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC), and the FIT Program. The program is in the pilot phase, working with 3 prisons that include the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh, Wake, and Orange Correctional Centers. People in the program are started on Suboxone prior to their release and then given an injection of the same medication that lasts 30 days. The FIT Program coordinates care for people upon release if they will be living in any of the 6 FIT counties, and FIT has partnered with organizations in 58 counties to expand eligibility for people to be treated. FIT Wellness is a unique program in our Wake County FIT Program that focuses on people with severe mental illness (SMI). Funded by a grant from the NC Department of Mental Health, FIT is able to offer continuity Psychiatric care for people with SMI released from state prisons and coming to Wake, Orange, Durham and Mecklenburg Counties. Participants work with a FIT Community Health Worker dedicated to this effort that assists them in a comprehensive reentry plan and coordinates their care at FIT clinics in those counties. FIT Wellness participants will see a Psychiatrist/Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner co-located with their primary care provider. Our partner clinics are the UNC REACH Clinic, MedNorth Health Center and Piedmont Health Services The North Carolina Technical Assistance Center (NC TAC) is a partnership between the NC FIT Program, The NC Harm Reduction Coalition, the Duke Wilson Center for Science and Justice, the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners and Dr. Shuchin Shukla. With the support of the NC Department of Health and Human Services in the Division of Mental Health, the collaborative works together supporting programs that work with people at risk of overdose and incarceration. Our scope of services includes Jail-Based treatment of substance use disorder, Harm Reduction, Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, Pre-trial and Pre-arrest diversion/deflection, use of Opioid Settlement funds by counties. Funding to support our Community Health Workers (CHWs) is from a combination of partnerships with county health departments, local reentry organizations, Federally Qualified Health Centers, grants and a contract with the NC Department of Adult Correction. A significant barrier to health care services for our clients is a lack of insurance. Many formerly incarcerated people do now qualify for Medicaid but it is often inactive upon release. The NC FIT Program provides vouchers to cover the office visits and medication costs for uninsured patients at our partner community health centers We are working with our community partners and foundations to obtain long-term funding for the CHWs. Make a Gift to the Please consider making a donation. Formerly incarcerated people face multiple barriers to care and this program can really make a difference in their lives. Thank you for your support! Prison Reentry Services. More crisis care beds. Better pay for health care workers. Where $835 million in new mental health money is being spent. FIT Wellness receives grant to help formerly incarcerated people NCDDHS Expands Investment in Reentry Services for People Involves in the Justice System Out of prison, but struggling to stay healthy Meeting Health Needs at Reentry: North Carolina’s FIT Program Health Care Half Hour: Successful reentry- Health issues facing people leaving incarceration Increasing MAT use in carceral facilities could save lives, but faces barriers Out of Prison and Trying to Build a New, Healthy Life They’re Out of Prison, Can They Stay Out of The Hospital? UNC-led FIT Program helps former prisoners take on chronic illnesses FIT Program Provides Critical Support for Former Inmates We Must Do Better: Addressing High Mortality After Release from Incarceration Spotlight on the Safety Net: Connecting People Released from Incarceration to Essential Health Services: The North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transition (FIT) Program Prison And Jail Reentry And Health Overwhelming Need, Insufficient Health Care for Justice-involved North Carolinians. The Transitions Clinic Network: Post Incarceration Addiction Treatment, Healthcare, and Social Support (TCN-PATHS): A hybrid type-1 effectiveness trial of enhanced primary care to improve opioid use disorder treatment outcomes following release from jail
What is NC FIT?
Interested in Learning More? Contact Us!
NC FIT Program Sites and Partners
The FIT Program of Durham County
The FIT Program of Orange County
The FIT Program of Wake County
The FIT Program of Mecklenburg County
The FIT Program of Guilford County
The FIT Program of New Hanover County
Visit their websiteThe FIT Program of Buncombe County
The FIT Program of Beaufort County
NC FIT Programs
FIT Recovery
FIT Wellness
North Carolina Technical Assistance Center
How is the NC FIT Program Funded?
UNC Family Medicine NC FIT Program
News and Media
NC Health News, 4/3/2024
The Daily Tar Heel, 2/22/2024
NCDHHS, 2/12/2024
AAMC, 1/10/23
Policy Research Associates, 2/10/21
NC Health News, 11/18/21
NC Health News, 12/21/21
Washington Post, 12/23/19
New York Times, 5/29/18
UNC Health Care News 8/2017
WUNC — The State of Things, June 13thAcademic Publications
Baker A, Ashkin E, Rosen D North Carolina Medical Journal Sep 2022, 83 (5) 342-345; DOI: 10.18043/ncm.83.5.342
Clark E, Ashkin E. North Carolina Medical Journal November-December 2019 80:377-379; doi:10.18043/ncm.80.6.377
“Prison And Jail Reentry And Health”, Health Affairs Health Policy Brief, October 28, 2021. DOI: 10.1377/hpb20210928.343531
Rosen D, Gifford E, Ashkin E. North Carolina Medical Journal November-December 2019 80:339-343; doi:10.18043/ncm.80.6.339
Howell BA, Puglisi L, Clark K, Albizu-Garica C, Ashkin E, Booth T, Brinkley-Rubinstein L, Fiellin D, Fox A, Maurer KF, Lin H McCollister K, Murphy S, Morse D, Shavit S, Wang K, Winkelman T, Wang EA. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2021 Jan 29:108315. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108315. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33583610.