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Illinois Must Address HIV/AIDS in Prisons

Illinois should commit additional resources to provide HIV prevention and care services throughout an inmate's term of incarceration and upon release. The Illinois Departments of Corrections and Public Health should collaborate with qualified community-based organizations to ensure inmates receive:

HIV prevention education upon intake
Repeated offers of free and voluntary HIV counseling and testing
Ongoing HIV prevention education provided by peer educators
Access to condoms
Comprehensive medical services with individualized HIV/AIDS care, including access to all HIV/AIDS medications
Comprehensive discharge planning and linkages to state-funded and community-based programs for HIV-positive ex-prisoners

As current data is incomplete, the state should also invest in research into correctional HIV prevalence rates, risk-taking behaviors, and the effectiveness of HIV-related services provided in prisons.

Addressing HIV/AIDS in Prisons—What Works

Peer education: Long accepted as an effective strategy for reaching high-risk populations, peer educators are able to gain the trust of their audiences, which is particularly important in encouraging HIV testing and risk reduction.

Example: California's San Quentin State Prison operates Center Force, a peer education program developed collaboratively by prison staff, inmates, and community-based organizations. Center Force trains 25-30 peer educators twice a year through a five-day, 30-hour program. Peer educators provide HIV education during orientation for new inmates and on an ongoing basis for all inmates, including those awaiting release. According to the University of California San Francisco, the program is cost-effective and preferred by inmates over professional educators. Of particular significance is the fact that the number of inmates accepting voluntary HIV testing has also increased since the program began(21).

Condom availability: Jails and prisons in Vermont, Mississippi, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC make condoms available to inmates through a variety of means. Some jurisdictions allow inmates to purchase condoms at the commissary and others allow community-based organizations to provide them or have them available at the prison infirmary.

Example: Washington, DC jails make condoms available to 2,000 adult and juvenile inmates each year. Condoms are available at health education classes, during HIV counseling and testing, and upon request from medical staff. The program distributes hundreds of condoms each month free of charge and without tracking who takes them. Some 64% of officers surveyed support the availability of condoms at the jail(22).

Discharge planning: Discharge planning is critical to ensuring that HIV-positive inmates are effectively transitioned to appropriate community-based medical and social services when they are released. Most discharge planning begins three months prior to release and is provided by both prison staff and community-based case managers.

Example: Arizona assesses HIV-positive inmates for eligibility for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program prior to their release. Those who qualify are provided a 30-day supply of medications, which are held at the prison pharmacy and given to the inmates upon release. This helps reduce dangerous lapses in treatment and provides the individual with a window of time to establish community-based medical care(23).

Transitional and intensive case management: As discharge planning ends and an inmate is released, specially trained case managers help ex-prisoners obtain housing, substance abuse treatment, comprehensive medical care, HIV prevention education, job training, and emotional and psychological support services. In addition to helping ex-prisoners achieve stability, transitional case management has been shown to reduce recidivism.

Example: In Rhode Island, the recidivism rate among HIV-positive women receiving transitional case management was significantly lower than the rate among women without the services-17% compared to 39%(24).

< Back Next >

21 AIDS Action. (2001) What Works in HIV Prevention for Incarcerated Populations(11).
22 May, John P. and Earnest L. Williams. (2002) "Acceptability of Condom Availability in a U.S. Jail." AIDS Education and Prevention, 14, Supplement B.
23 AIDS Action. (2001) "HIV Prevention and Care for Incarcerated Populations." (10).
24 Desai et. al. (2002) "The Importance of Routine HIV Testing in the Incarcerated Population: The Rhode Island Experience." AIDS Education and Prevention, 14, Supplement B(51).

Printable Document (PDF)

Introduction

The Intersection of HIV/AIDS & Prisons

Illinois must Address HIV/AIDS in Prisons

State Policy Priorities

Federal Policy Priorities

HIV/AIDS in Illinois

Additional HIV/AIDS statistics

This page last modified: September 21, 2006.