Law enforcement, medical experts, faith leaders, formerly incarcerated person, and reentry advocates gathered Thursday, Nov. 13 in the Malcolm X College Conference Center Theater to discuss the connection between incarceration and declining health outcomes.
Poor health care provided while in prison, the lasting negative effects of incarceration, and increased barriers for accessing health care all make it more likely for a person who is incarcerated, or formally incarcerated, to experience health problems, participants said.
Illinois state prisons have been reported as providing poor health care for incarcerated people, having recently ended a 10-year contract with the health care company Wexford Health Services. The company has been the target of criticism and allegations that its low-quality care caused preventable deaths and malnutrition.
Austin has been known to have a high rate of incarceration, with parts of Chicago’s west side having nearly 70% of men between ages 18 and 54 being likely to have been subject to the criminal justice system
Prison environments also often contribute to the onset or worsening of serious health conditions including, but not limited to, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, chronic illnesses, mental health challenges and substance use disorders.
Nathanael Cole, who produced the documentary film “Stolen Youth” – which follows exoneree Troshawn McCoy and was screened after the panel – discussed how some prisons, including the one Troshawn McCoy was in, serve food to inmates that is labeled “not for human consumption.”
“They are feeding humans something that should not be fed to humans. That is one of the reasons why we have inmates who are ill beyond what they came in with,” he said. “If they feel like you’re in a cage, you’re an animal. So you’re going to be treated as an animal.”
Mental health issues for the person jailed as well as his family were also addressed.
Donald Dew, president/CEO of Habilitative System Inc., discussed how incarceration can impact a person’s family’s mental health, leading to a chain reaction that can lead to generational trauma.
“Think about what that mother goes through, think about what that dad goes through… think of what happens in terms of anxiety or depression,” said Dew. “Think about the effect incarceration has on the children. In many cases for the child, it’s their first experience of adversity… It is traumatic for that child to see their parent being arrested, being put in handcuffs and going off to jail and not see that parent back home for years at a time.”
Craig T. Carrington, who has worked in both the legal and health professions, said he would like to see no disparity amongst people imprisoned and those who are not when it comes to health care.
When asked about the Illinois Department of Corrections switching its health care provider from Wexford to Centurion, which has also received criticism involving their care, Carrington said, “I have hope if the right people are involved in this process.”
