Continuity of Care After Incarceration: What Sheriffs and Jail Leaders Should Know Right Now
Across the country, states are receiving new federal funding to address a long-standing challenge in corrections: what happens to individuals with mental health and substance use disorders after they leave custody.
Kansas is one of several states that has recently received a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicaid continuity of care planning grant aimed at improving health care transitions for individuals reentering the community after incarceration. While these grants are awarded to state Medicaid agencies, local jails and sheriffs’ offices play a critical role in shaping how these systems are designed and whether they actually work in practice. This is an important moment for correctional leadership to be at the table.
What These Continuity Grants Are Designed to Do
At their core, these grants focus on funding continuity of care strategies for individuals who are eligible for Medicaid and CHIP immediately following and after incarcerationon improving outcomes during one of the most vulnerable periods an individual will face: the days and weeks following release. National data consistently shows elevated potential for suicide, overdose, psychiatric decompensation, and recidivism during this these transition periods.1 According to KanCare, some strategies covered by continuity grants may include:
Identifying and addressing operational gaps
Establishing standardized processes for KanCare or CHIP enrollment status of inmates
Investing in information technology to enable health information sharing
Establishing oversight and monitoring processes for compliance
State Medicaid agencies are using planning funds to improve prerelease identification of mental health and substance use needs, streamline Medicaid suspension, reactivation, or reenrollment processes, strengthen information sharing and care coordination, and design discharge and transition models that connect individuals to care immediately upon release. None of this can be done effectively without meaningful collaboration with jails.
Why Sheriffs and Jail Administrators Matter in the Planning Process
Sheriffs and jail administrators understand the clinical acuity of the jail population, the operational realities inside facilities, the staffing and documentation demands placed on personnel, and exactly where continuity may break down at the point of release.
State plans developed without correctional input generally look strong on paper but can fail during implementation. Facilities that engage early have the opportunity to influence how screenings, assessments, and referrals are structured, advocate for workflows that realistically fit custody and health care operations, ensure that continuity models reduce rather than increase operational burden, and align future funding opportunities with existing jail-based practices. In short, experience early planning and participation in grant-funded re-entry programs can shape whether these initiatives continue to receive funding based on initial improve security outcomes or become unpractical, an unfunded mandates.
How Freedom Behavioral Health Can Support This Work
Freedom Behavioral Health, Inc. (FBH) has extensive experience working at the intersection of corrections, behavioral health, and public systems. Our clinicians routinely serve individuals with acute mental illness, substance use disorders, and histories of violence, both in custody and in community settings.
As states and counties advance continuity of care models, FBH supports jails and planning partners through pre-release mental health evaluations, treatment planning that connects custody-based care to community services, coordinated jail-based or prerelease discharge planning, and clinical consultation to support suicide prevention and informed reentry decisions. We also assist with warm handoffs to community-based mental health and substance use treatment providers.
Our role is not to replace existing jail health care operations, but to strengthen transitions, help reduce post-release incidents, and support positive outcomes for individuals, staff, and communities.
A Window of Opportunity
These continuity of care grants represent more than funding. They reflect a shift in how correctional health care transitions are being viewed at the federal and state levels. Facilities that engage now help shape systems that are practical, defensible, and clinically sound.
If your facility or county is being approached for input, or if you would like to proactively engage in these conversations, FBH is available to support planning, consultation, and implementation.
Strong reentry planning is not just a health care issue. It is a public safety issue, a staff safety issue, and a community stability issue.
References
CSJ Justice Center. (2024). United States justice data and trends. https://projects.csgjusticecenter.org/justice-data-snapshots/