What We Do
Mission
The NCCHC Foundation’s mission is to champion the correctional health care field and serve the public by supporting research, professional education, scholarships, and patient reentry into the community.
Vision
We envision a world with equitable access to health care practices, habits, and behaviors. Well-educated and supported correctional health care professionals can educate incarcerated patients for better health by introducing strong, consistent evidence-based medical and mental health practices. As our community gets healthier, it becomes stronger.
95% of all incarcerated people return to their home communities. Prior to incarceration, more than 60% are low income and members of minority populations.
Education
In 2022, more than 6,800 health care professionals participated in NCCHC educational offerings on-site or online. Many more work for states and counties with limited funding for travel and continuing education. The staff at the facilities most in need are often the ones left without access to these critical learning opportunities or must personally fund their own continuing education.
The Foundation provides scholarships for early career correctional health care professionals to attend in-person and virtual conferences, providing them insight and knowledge to bring back to their co-workers and patients. We also work with our partners, industry professionals, and educational institutions to support student participation to create awareness of the impactful work of a career in correctional health care.
Research
Clinical research spending in the United States is estimated at $238 billion per year, and yet very little is spent on researching outcomes and best practices for incarcerated patients. There is a huge need for centralized data collection and analysis to identify best practices and support optimal outcomes for correctional patients, who often represent low-income and underserved communities. Treating incarcerated patients and creating a path to accessible care upon reentry improves lives, lowers crime rates and recidivism, and creates healthier communities.
Collaboration
The Foundation partners and collaborates with individual donors, corporations, nongovernmental organizations, and government agencies to make a real difference in outcomes for patients in corrections and the communities they return to. Key areas of concern include substance abuse, mental health, chronic health conditions, juvenile care, geriatric care, and infectious disease. Addressing these issues during incarceration and through reentry into patient’s home communities provides a conduit to stronger community health.