NC FIT Program
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21,893 people were released from North Carolina prisons in 2020. 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 appropriate healthcare services and other reentry resources. These efforts are orchestrated by our Community Health Workers (CHWs). 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 25 clinical sites. Partners: Durham County Department of Public Health, Lincoln Community Health Center, The Durham Local Reentry Council Contact: Tina Clayton| tclayton@dconc.gov | (919)-560-7214 Contact: Sean Blue| ksblue@dconc.gov | (919)-560-7212 Partners: Orange County Department of Public Health, Piedmont Health Services, Inc., Orange County Reentry Council Contact: Dana Crews| dcrews@orangecountync.gov | Partners: UNC Department of Psychiatry, UNC Healthcare at UNC REACH, Advance Community Health Center, Wake County Local Reentry Council 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, Guilford County Health Department Contact: Pamela Faulkner | pfaulkner@tapmedicine.com | (336)-840-9257 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 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 12 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 County. 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 UNC Wakebrook, a behavioral health and primary care facility. At Wakebrook, they see a Psychiatrist that also works in the prison system, and they become established with a primary care provider for medical needs. The North Carolina Technical Assistance Center (NC TAC) is a partnership between the NC FIT Program, The NC Harm Reduction Coalition, and the Duke Harm Reduction Research Collaboratory. With the support of the NC Department of Health and Human Services in the Division of Mental Health, the collaborative works together supporting grantees from 22 different communities in North Carolina. Their work support centers on three areas to address the opioid epidemic: Funding to support our Community Health Workers (CHWs) in Durham and Orange is a combination of a grant from The Duke Endowment and support by the Durham and Orange County Departments of Public Health. Initial seed funding for the program in Durham came from the NC Division of Public Health. A contract with the NC Department of Public Safety is allowing us to expand the NC FIT Program to Wake and Mecklenburg Counties. A significant barrier to health care services for our clients is a lack of insurance. Most formerly incarcerated people do not qualify for Medicaid and have no health insurance. The NC FIT Program provides vouchers to cover the office visits and medication costs for uninsured patients. Office visits at Community Health Centers are $20-$30 and medications cost between $4-$20 per month per medication. 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
Contact: Quanesha Archer | qmarcher@dconc.gov | (919) 560-7098The FIT Program of Orange County
Contact: Tommy Green | hgreen@orangecountync.gov | (919) 339-2410The FIT Program of Wake County
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)-974-4818The FIT Program of Mecklenburg County
The FIT Program of Guilford County
Contact: Eugene Wilson | ewilson@tapmedicine.com | (336) 279-4259The FIT Program of New Hanover County
Visit their website hereNC 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.