Health Equity Strategic Plan | Department of Corrections
Visit the Department of Corrections website, call 719-579-9580, or email cdoc@state.co.us for more information or assistance with direct services.
Priority:
Economic Stability,
Education Access and Quality, &
Health Care Access and Quality
Problem statement
Criminal Justice-involved individuals experience many barriers in access to social determinants of health, both inside and outside the prison walls. Even with strategies to mitigate barriers, stigmatization of criminal offenses lends to access disparities. Through the Colorado Department of Corrections’ (CDOC) vision of one DOC, each division within the agency will address issues specific to disparities facing criminal justice-involved individuals with creative strategies to address access to clinical care, opportunities for education and connection to housing resources upon release from prison.
Community engagement
Correctional Health Partners (CHP) holds a contract with CDOC to provide community-based care for incarcerated individuals outside of the facilities. Their role is to build relationships with hospitals and specialty care providers and negotiate payment for services for individuals that have acute needs that can not be addressed within the facilities. Through their connections, DOC intends to expand telehealth opportunities for speciality care and consultations.
Telemedicine Expansion
The COVID-19 pandemic brought a better understanding of the potential of telemedicine for outside consultations for our incarcerated population. Many of our facilities are located in remote rural areas where providers in certain specialties are scarce. We have been able to use telemedicine to allow our incarcerated persons to access these services without traveling great distances. This also provides safety and stability to the local community as it prevents numerous transports through their streets, decreases our carbon footprint, and allows our staff to stay within the walls to attend to the needs of all of our population. We monitor the number of telemedicine appointments each month. CDOC is also using telemedicine to help provide chronic care visits to our incarcerated population. We have procured advanced telemedicine carts with grant money that became available before and during the pandemic. This allows us to leverage our provider staff and increase our efficiency by allowing our provider to make an impactful encounter with incarcerated persons regardless of their location. This stabilizes our community of concerned family and friends of the incarcerated population by providing reassurance that their loved one’s health care needs are being met.
Communities prioritized by this strategy:
- People living with disabilities
- Historically marginalized communities
- Rural communities
- Criminal justice-involved individuals
Areas of impact
This strategy will impact Coloradans statewide.
2024 milestones
- Reduce emergency transports, increase chronic care visits, and mitigate health-related conditions. [Complete]
2025 milestones
- Reduce emergency transports, increase chronic care visits, and mitigate health-related conditions.
2026 milestones
- Reduce emergency transports, increase chronic care visits, and mitigate health-related conditions.
By December 2024:
- Reduce the number of emergency transports by 2% and increase chronic care visits by 5%. [Complete]
By December 2025:
- Reduce the number of emergency transport by 3% and increase chronic care visits by 6%.
By December 2026:
- Reduce the number of emergency transport by 3% and increase chronic care visits by 7%.
Life Skills Training Completion
The department will use a web-based Life Skills curriculum that fosters positive relationships and concepts in daily living to support successful reintegration into society. The course will cover essential topics such as nutrition and family health, digital literacy, employability skills, parenting, managing stress, conflict resolution, financial management, positive self-image, and interpersonal skills.
Communities prioritized by this strategy:
- Low-income communities
- Communities of color
- LGBT+ communities
- People living with disabilities
- Housing cost-burdened communities
- Linguistically isolated communities
- Historically marginalized communities
- Cumulatively impacted communities
- Rural communities
- Criminal justice-involved individuals
Areas of impact
This strategy will impact Coloradans statewide.
CY 2024 milestones
- Identify an evidence-based curriculum. [Complete]
- Enroll and complete the curriculum for 50 students at each facility. [Complete]
CY 2025 milestones
- Increase the number of student completions in Life Skills.
CY 2026 milestones
- Increase the number of student completions in Life Skills.
By December 2024
- Implement a web-based Life Skills curriculum. [Complete]
By December 2025
- Award certificates of completion to 300 students in the identified Life Skills program.
By December 2026
- Increase the number of student completions by 5%.
By December 2027
- Increase the number of student completions by 5%.
Increase Housing Resources upon Release
Clients leaving the Department of Corrections experience challenges with obtaining and securing a stable housing resource. The department has partnered with the Government Performance Lab to establish a process that enhances its ability to identify clients at risk of homelessness and match them to a housing resource.
Communities prioritized by this strategy:
- Low-income communities
- Communities of color
- LGBT+ communities
- People living with disabilities
- Housing cost-burdened communities
- Historically marginalized communities
- Rural communities
- Criminal justice-involved individuals
Areas of impact
This strategy will impact Coloradans statewide.
2024 milestones
- Partner with the Government Performance Lab to strengthen housing and re-entry support services for clients at risk of homelessness. [Complete]
2025 milestones
- Develop a risk assessment tool to measure the risk of homelessness upon release.
2026 milestones
- Release clients who are identified as high risk through the risk assessment process to housing resources.
By December 2024
- Increase the percentage of clients upon release from a correctional facility that are connected to a housing resource from 72% to 80%. [Complete]
By December 2025
- Meet or exceed the goal of 80% of clients released to housing resources.
By December 2026
- Meet or exceed the goal of 80% of clients identified as high-risk to a housing resource.