St. Louis Integrated Health Network

St. Louis Re-Entry Community Linkages (RE-LINK) Program

Saint Louis Integrated Heath Network logo

Project Date
Aug 2016—Jul 2021

Type of Evaluation
Process, Impact

Setting
Community-based

Overview

The purpose of the Re-Entry Community Linkages (RE-LINK) St. Louis program is to improve the health and behavioral health outcomes for minority reentrants in transition from jail to their communities. The program is implemented through the Health and Social Service Network, which brings together health and social service providers to create a coordinated service delivery and support system.

The Evaluation Center partnered with the St. Louis Integrated Health Network to design and implement the evaluation of the Health and Social Service Network and support the individual-level evaluation.

Project Description

Background

The St. Louis Integrated Health Network (IHN) is a membership-based non-profit healthcare intermediary organization that collaborates with community health centers, hospital systems, public health departments, academic institutions and other safety net organizations to increase access to high-quality, affordable health care in our region.

The Re-Entry Community Linkages (RE-LINK) St. Louis program aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of a reentry transition process for young people in the city of St. Louis. Its purpose is to improve health outcomes for minority reentrants, ages 18-26, in transition from jail to their communities by providing culturally appropriate and trauma-informed service navigation. An overall program goal is to reduce recidivism.

The program is implemented by multiple stakeholders within the public health and community support system working together as the Health and Social Service Network (HSSN). The RE-LINK St. Louis program links community reentrants to community-based organizations that can provide support and access to health care, health care coverage, behavioral health, and social service supports through a collection of evidence-based and best practices recommended by the HSSN partners. The HSSN also focuses on improving institutional systems and policies that impact the effectiveness of this RE-LINK program.

The evaluation team was comprised of members from the Brown School’s Smart Decarceration Initiative and Evaluation Center.

Evaluation Center Activities

  • Collaborated with the project lead, IHN, to develop an evaluation plan to assess both the individual and network level outcomes.
  • Oversaw the network-level evaluation, a mixed methods approach consisting of a social network analysis and semi-structured qualitative interviews. The network-level evaluation assessed the HSSN’s growth over time, specifically examining changes in communication, coordination, collaboration, and organizational capacity.
  • Provided support to IHN on the individual-level evaluation and worked collaboratively with IHN to design coordinated dissemination products.

Our Products

  • Evaluation plan
  • Social network analysis survey and meeting surveys
  • Semi-structured interview guide
  • Dissemination plan
  • Findings briefs, annual reports, and additional dissemination products

Project Funder

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health

Contact Person
Meihsi Chiang, MSW

Meihsi Chiang, MSW

Interim Associate Director