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| La. Prison Project's Goal to Benefit Ex-Inmates with HIV/AIDS |
| By Baton Rouge Advocate |
| Published: 03/05/2003 |
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There's a stigma attached to having been incarcerated and an even greater one attached to having HIV/AIDS. Both stigmas are linked to the fear of possibly being duped or harmed by a former inmate or contracting the blood-borne disease from him. Those stigmas, the fear and the anxiety of returning to society make it more difficult to get a job or job training, food, housing and medical care, in addition to possibly reconnecting with family and friends. However, there is hope for soon-to-be released HIV-positive inmates in Louisiana. Because of Prison Project, launched last year through the state Department of Corrections and Office of Public Health's HIV/AID Program, HIV-positive inmates can continue their medical care by working with case workers before and after their release. They are also connected with other services. Taking this extra step can mean the difference between an inmate becoming a benefit to society rather than a risk. HIV, human immunodeficiency virus, causes AIDS or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, which weakens the immune system and is spread primarily through unprotected sex and intravenous drug use. AIDS, which can also be spread through blood transfusions and from mother to child during pregnancy, affects all ages and races. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, AIDS has claimed more than 20 million lives worldwide since the early 1980s. There is no cure. Dr. Michael Hegmann, medical director at Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel, says there are other benefits to Prison Project for former inmates who are HIV-positive, in addition to continuing medical care. Among the reasons: · Former inmates who know their HIV status can get treatment, get educated about how the disease is spread and become less likely to transmit it. · If former inmates are taking care of themselves, there's less turmoil in their lives and they're more likely to stay on the right track and not return to prison. Hunt is one of five state prisons in and around Baton Rouge working with social service organizations on Prison Project, which doesn't monitor former inmates. It's also a voluntary program for them. Susan Wible, statewide coordinator of Prison Project, estimates that more than a third of the roughly 57,000 people incarcerated in Louisiana on any given day are being held on drug offenses and that many people convicted of other crimes have a history of drug abuse. The drug use, she said, can lead to other risky behavior among inmates and former inmates, both inside and outside prison, including unprotected sex, self-tattooing, needle sharing and fights that result in bloodshed. Further, inmates in Louisiana can't be tested for HIV/AIDS without their consent and testing policies are inconsistent. Unless an inmate's health deteriorates, he poses a threat to others or he reveals his status, it's almost impossible to know who is infected. Wible, like Hegmann, said it makes sense to develop a program, such as Prison Project, 'so when inmate Joe walks out of prison, there's a safety net there for him.' Preliminary information from Jean'quel Henry, the case manager and care coordinator with Family Service of Greater Baton Rouge working with the state's prisons on Prison Project, seems to support that goal. Of the 88 cases referred to her between March and November, Henry said, 57 were new clients who had never been treated for HIV/AIDS, none of the people from state prisons had returned to prison and two people from parish jails have been incarcerated again. If Prison Project proves successful, officials hope to take the state and federally funded pilot program statewide. |
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