About

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Justice involved individuals have a right to access health care

Take Care – Health Matters is a  project of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition (CCJRC). CCJRC is working to help Colorado seize the historic opportunity offered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to connect justice involved people with needed health care coverage and services.

This project offers a wide variety of strategies including:

  • Educate justice involved people

    Provide resources and learning opportunities about how to access healthcare coverage and care, in particular through Health First Colorado (Colorado’s Medicaid Program).

  • Develop website resources

    Online resources will assist justice involved people and professionals by providing guidance to get help navigating enrollment or accessing care

  • Participate in relevant stakeholder groups

    Participate in a variety of state and local stakeholder groups to ensure that justice involved people are included in specific implementation strategies regarding Health First Colorado (Colorado’s Medicaid Program) and other healthcare reform efforts

  • Educate professionals serving justice involved people

    Provide opportunities for advocates, criminal justice and health professionals to learn about the nuances of Health First Colorado (Colorado’s Medicaid Program) and details regarding eligibility for people in various aspects of the criminal justice system

  • Share information between criminal justice, health care and behavioral health

    Provide relationship-building and information-sharing opportunities between criminal justice, health care and behavioral health about the structures of their respective systems

  • Identify specific issues and/or barriers to access health and behavioral health care for justice involved people

    Justice involved people face a variety of specific issues and/or barriers accessing health and behavioral health care services and these issues will evolve as Health First Colorado (Colorado’s Medicaid Program) and other healthcare strategies are implemented and refined

  • Identify specific system needs in health care, behavioral health and criminal justice

    Various systems are beginning to intersect in ways to better serve justice involved people and it’s important to identify specific system needs to increase access to health and behavioral healthcare services

  • Develop policy proposals

    Policy can play a potential role to increase access to care for justice involved people and should be a tool available

  • Develop communications strategies

    Education and outreach through various communication channels will help justice involved people access the benefits of the Health First Colorado (Colorado’s Medicaid Program), enrollment mechanisms/procedures, and where to get help navigating and/or accessing care