(Washington, DC) With HIV/AIDS statistics continuing to escalate after the disease was first introduced more than 25 years ago, the DC Department of Corrections (DOC) has embarked upon a novel approach towards addressing this growing public concern. The Department’s automatic HIV testing at the front and back end of incarceration is a first among detention systems and has garnered the agency national acclaim.
The Department first integrated automatic HIV testing into its routine medical intake procedures for inmates in June 2006. The program was launched in collaboration with the city’s Department of Health’s Administration for HIV Policy and Programs. Select the link below to view the Citywide HIV Rapid Testing Program Presentation:
Citywide HIV Screening Campaign 2006-2007 [PDF]
More than 19,000 inmates have been screened for HIV at intake between June 2006 and December 2007. The testing, that used to be voluntary, is conducted automatically at the Central Detention Facility which is also known as the DC Jail.
The jail is the focal point of entry for everyone who has been arraigned and committed for incarceration by the DC Superior Court and the US District Court. Many of the individuals processed in the jail annually enter and exit the system with a host of communicable and contagious illnesses. If the people are unaware of their illnesses or not properly treated before they reenter society, this could cause a serious medical breach in the community.
Offenders who elect not to be tested for HIV are not subjected to any disciplinary action.
The DOC’s audits for July and August 2007 reflect a 95 percent success rate of offenders receiving prescribed medications at the time of release. Identifying and linking HIV positive inmates in jail to care in the community upon release is a major component of the District’s Community-Oriented Correctional Health Care model being implemented under a three-year contract with UNITY Health Care, Inc.
The city was selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as the first urban site for implementation of this model with a principal goal to provide continuity of care to offenders with chronic medical conditions who are released to the community through discharge procedures and treatment plans.
Citywide volunteers and other groups with grant funding, like Miracle Hands, also provide valuable services to the inmates. Miracle Hands teaches offenders to train their peers within the jail, or out in the community, to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.
The department also implemented a residential drug treatment program at the DC Jail and the nearby Correctional Treatment Facility. The 90-day program entitled, “Progress Toward Empowerment Modified Therapeutic Community,” is comprised of 60 beds (40 for males and 20 for females). As of February 15, 2008, there were 35 males and 14 females enrolled in the program with ongoing assessment and evaluation of current referrals for admission to the available slots. The department’s goal is to provide substance abuse services for up 500 inmates annually. In October 2007, DOC’s health services administrator attended the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) conference in Nashville, Tenn. The conference included a first-time poster presentation on DOC’s automatic HIV testing program.
Devon Brown, the DOC director, announced that the DC Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, an advocacy group, gave the department an “A” on its third report card in December 2007 for its overall efforts and responding to the city’s HIV-AIDS epidemic.
In addition, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) invited DOC to testify before the House Committee on the Judiciary in support of HIV testing for all Bureau of Prisons inmates. The Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation Center and the Prisoner Reentry Institute, along with the John Jay College of Criminal Justice (in New York), will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of DOC’s model through a grant from the Johnson Foundation.
The Department of Justice, pursuant to the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners Act (RSAT), awarded DOC a $288,000 grant to implement a drug treatment program. The Department will collaborate with the Addiction Prevention Recovery Administration (APRA) to implement a modified therapeutic community to provide substance abuse services for up to 500 inmates annually.
A grant proposal has been submitted by DOC in partnership with the Women’s Wing Organization (WWO) to the US Department of Health for $1.6 million ($400,000 annually). This is intended to enhance community healthcare services for HIV positive female offenders and their minor children. The Department also plans to request that John Jay College conduct the research component of this grant, if awarded. By means of this demonstration grant, DOC will serve as a national model in its approach to the identification and treatment of HIV/AIDS within correctional environments.
The approximate 19,000 inmates already tested by DOC represent approximately one third of all District residents tested to date under Mayor Adrian Fenty’s initiative, “Come Together DC, Get Screened for HIV.”
District of Columbia Government officials recently released a 120-page report indicating that more than 80 percent of the 3,269 HIV cases identified between 2001 and 2006 in the District were among African-Americans. The inmates at the jail, which is a microcosm of the city, are predominantly black, too.