REENTRY AND HEALTHCARE CONTINUITY COLLABORATIVE
The Reentry and Healthcare Continuity Collaborative (RHCC) is a team of passionate consultants with over 40 years of wide-ranging experience working in nonprofits, government, and the private sector advancing effective programs and policies in criminal justice and behavioral health.
An initiative of Sultan Justice Consulting Corp, Comprehensive Strategy Consulting, and Springlake Solutions, RHCC is on a mission to support reentry and healthcare continuity for justice-involved populations.
-
Bonnie Sultan
-
Cassie Branderhorst
-
Mark O'Brien
The Challenge
Reentry healthcare discontinuity.
Disruptions in healthcare and other services to support the health, wellbeing, and successful reentry of people returning to the community after incarceration or detention are root causes of the high rates of recidivism and poor health outcomes that plague our systems.
The Opportunity
Changes in federal law.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has encouraged states to apply for waivers to use Medicaid funds to cover services for incarcerated or detained individuals up to 90 days before their release. Other recent changes to federal law mandate that states expand pre-release and transitional health coverage, screening, and services to incarcerated or detained youth under 21.
Why It Matters
These changes are a big deal.
Until now, healthcare and other services provided to incarcerated or detained individuals could not be paid for with federal Medicaid or CHIP funds, reinforcing an artificial separation between health, behavioral health, and other services provided behind the walls of prisons and jails and the same types of services provided in the community. The resulting system has often meant that people are lost in the cracks during the critical transition back into the community.
These changes present an incredible, once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring people together to create continuity of care and address social determinants of health to support reentry and wellbeing comprehensively.
What Is Needed
States, counties, and programs need support.
These are big technical changes requiring substantial cross-system collaboration and integration among unfamiliar systems (Medicaid, corrections, community organizations, and others). States and counties will need to adopt novel approaches, and there are few existing models to rely on. Many will need support from professionals who understand the various systems involved, and the challenges and opportunities they offer.
What We Do
We’re here to help.
The RHCC offers flexible subject matter expertise and technical assistance for state, local, and community-based planning and implementation of Medicaid 1115 demonstration waivers, CHIP requirements, and other initiatives to support successful reentry and healthcare continuity for justice-involved populations.
We provide tailored expertise in strategic planning, partner engagement, program design, and performance monitoring, ensuring initiatives are fully aligned with federal requirements and optimized for both immediate and long-term success.
Our consulting services include hands-on guidance for effective planning, cross-agency collaboration, and sustainable reinvestment strategies, particularly suited for communities motivated to enhance both adult and youth reentry initiatives.
Why Work With Us
This is our passion.
Members of the RHCC have worked together to advance these changes in federal policy since 2010. Each of us has spent their career advancing programs and policies that promote health, justice, and community wellbeing.
By working with the RHCC, you’ll get access to top experts with direct experience planning, advocating for, providing technical assistance, and implementing reentry and healthcare continuity initiatives (without the high overhead costs of larger consultancies). We are laser-focused on reentry and healthcare continuity for justice-involved adult and youth populations.