SJC Exchange Library

Originally posted by Ashley Krider on 09/05/2025

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After recent conversations with a couple of SJC partners (thanks Wendy Sawyer and Ronald Simpson-Bey and teams at PPI and JustLeadershipUSA!), PRI has created a targeted package of messaging around our Correctional Healthcare RFP Toolkit, specific to advocacy and community engagement groups.  We would love to spread the word as widely as possible about this free innovative resource to help incarcerated folks gain access to better healthcare, and we'd greatly appreciate your help (check out the attached resources to do so, or please reach out to me)!

Why is this important?

Simply put, we all know incarcerated individuals face many barriers to accessing necessary physical and behavioral healthcare. In jails and prisons that outsource healthcare (most jails and roughly 40% of prison systems), the specific care provided stems from the request for proposal (RFP) and subsequent contract with the healthcare vendor. In many cases, inadequate RFPs lead to preventable poor health outcomes or even medical neglect. This also contributes to inequities that too often leave this vulnerable population underserved.

To address this gap, PRI collaborated with a multidisciplinary team of correctional healthcare experts to develop a user-friendly, free resource, The Toolkit for Writing an RFP to Contract for Healthcare Services in a Correctional or Detention Institution. Check out the attached dissemination kit, which includes an advocacy-focused project summary, more details, and sample social media language to share.

Overall, the Toolkit represents more than a technical resource-it's a powerful lever for systemic reform. By re-centering compassionate, equitable, and rights-driven healthcare within correctional RFPs, the Toolkit offers a tool for advocates and administrators alike to effect meaningful change in the lives of individuals behind bars and the communities they rejoin.

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Ashley Krider
Assistant Director, SJC IMPACT Network
Policy Research, Inc.