U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

COVID-19 in Confinement Facilities: A BJA CDMCF TTA Educational Resource

NCJ Number
309571
Date Published
October 2024
Length
8 pages
Annotation

This how-to guide provides a breakdown of some best practices, with real-world examples from the New Mexico Peer Education Project, on how administrators and staff at correctional agencies and confinement facilities can support inmate education regarding Covid-19.

Abstract

This resource offers guidance for administrators and staff of correctional agencies and confinement facilities, on how to support education regarding Covid-19 for incarcerated individuals and how to build a peer-to-peer Covid-19 education project with training for incarcerated individuals to become health educators. The document provides a case study on the New Mexico Peer Education Project (NMPEP) from Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (Project ECHO) as a best-practice example of working in the New Mexico Corrections Department. Peer educators (PE) are more likely to understand the life experiences and environment of incarcerated individuals and may therefore relate to other inmates better than someone without those experiences; a peer education project (PEP) offers confinement facilities a unique opportunity to work with incarcerated individuals while also teaching them transferrable skills. This document highlights information about the New Mexico PEP, including best practices gleaned from the project; Project ECHO; the five primary goals of PEP; it provides a breakdown of building a PEP, including a list of support resources for training and communication help; and informs on some key aspects of PEP implementation.

Date Published: October 1, 2024