top of page
Photo by Adi Goldstein

Training, Education & Dissemination

Our training, education, and dissemination services are customized and embedded in evidence-based practices to provide innovative learning opportunities about key topics related to working within the criminal justice system or in community reentry efforts after incarceration.

Example topics include (partial list):​

​​

  • How Can We Do That: Capacity Building for Community Agencies Looking to Work in Correctional Settings

  • Developing Reentry Services for Incarcerated People

  • Getting IRB Approval When Working with People Impacted by Incarceration

  • Effective Behavioral HIV/Hepatitis/STI Interventions in the Correctional Setting

  • The Unique Needs, Challenges, and Assets of Children of Incarcerated Parents and How to Best Support Them 

  • Culture Clash, Corrections and Public Health: How to Make it Work

training.JPG
Work examples include:
Program Manual:  The Social Worker Defender Project
 
The Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC), in partnership with the Urban Institute, was awarded a Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) grant to develop, implement, and measure the impact of social worker involvement in public defense representation for adults facing criminal charges. The Social Worker Defender Project (SWDP) was developed with a goal to reduce incarceration rates by lowering or eliminating jail and prison sentences for participants in favor of appropriate community alternatives, and decrease recidivism through the increased use of treatment and educational programs. MIDC subcontracted with The Bridging Group to help develop the program model, train and support Social Worker staff, and create a step-by-step program manual. This manual is intended to assist other jurisdictions in implementing the Social Worker Defender Project (SWDP) by providing: 1) project overview and background information; 2) a step-by-step facilitators guide for implementing the program; and 3) appendices that provide key project implementation tools.
SWDP_thumbnail.png
Fact Sheet:  What is the role of prisons and jails in HIV prevention?
 
To disseminate the latest information on HIV science, the University of California, San Francisco’s, Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (UCSF CAPS) develops a variety of materials (fact sheets, topic-based newsletters, reports and toolkits) for community dissemination.  With a higher burden of infection than the general community and many myths about HIV and incarceration, UCSF CAPS partnered with The Bridging Group to create a Fact Sheet on the Role of prisons and jails in HIV prevention.
​
Also available in Spanish: ¿Cuál es el papel de las prisiones y cárceles en la prevención del VIH?
HIV-prevention-fact-sheet_thumbnail.png
Project START and Project START+ Implementation Training
 
Project START and Project START+ are the only evidenced-based behavioral interventions in CDC’s compendium of evidence-based interventions and best practices for HIV prevention that were developed specifically for people who are incarcerated. Project START is an HIV/STI/hepatitis risk reduction program for people returning to the community after incarceration. Project START+ (PS+) is similar to Project START but works exclusively with people living with HIV and provides additional support for linkage to HIV care in the community after release.​ The Bridging Group offers an Implementation Training for both the PS and PS+ programs — an intensive skills-based training program designed to train supervisors and program staff. Participants in the training walk away with a comprehensive knowledge of the program, the key steps toward program implementation in their own agencies, and the critical skills necessary to facilitate the program with clients. 
PS+Fact-Sheet_thumbnail.png
HRSA TargetHIV Webinar
 
HRSA’s (Health Resources & Services Administration) TargetHIV initiative creates tools to support their Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program to better address HIV/AIDS care with the most up to date information and resources. The Bridging Group was asked to help design and facilitate a webinar for the HRSA TargetHIV initiative that presents successful models for enhancing linkage, retention, and continuity of HIV care for returning citizens after incarceration. The Bridging Group specifically addressed the need to work with people with HIV who are incarcerated and preparing to return to the community.
CDC and AIDS United Webinar
 
People getting out of prison have a 12 times greater risk of overdose death in their first two weeks of release than the general population (adjusted for age, gender and race). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sponsored a webinar, hosted by AIDS United that featured the Harm Reduction Coalition, The Southern Tier AIDS Program and The Bridging Group to address the increased risk of overdose upon release, the heightened risk and needs for incarcerated people living with HIV, and the importance of reentry planning.
bottom of page