New research is being launched aimed at reducing re-offending among people with brain injury who are being released from prison.
The study will look at NeuroResource Facilitation (NRF)—a specialised intervention that promotes access to services and care co-ordination, tailored to the needs of people with brain injury.
Statistics have shown how widespread the issue of brain injury in the criminal justice system is, with nearly two thirds of women – 64 per cent – and more than two thirds of men – 47 per cent – in HMP Leeds/YOI Drake Hall reporting a brain injury.
One American study revealed that up to 87 per cent of inmates screened positive for at least one brain injury.
The US-based study, by the Brain Injury Research Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PADOC) and the Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania (BIAPA), is hoped to have a global impact and adds to ongoing efforts to support prisoners with brain injury.
“A key goal of this integrated, cross-collaborative project is to promote sustainability and build capacity of prison staff by providing training in brain injury screening and assessment of neurocognitive deficits, to obtain evidence to support the NRF intervention, and ultimately to help staff recognise and address brain injury in the prison system long after our research project is completed,” said Dr Maria Kajankova, assistant professor of rehabilitation and human performance at Icahn Mount Sinai.
The research team will recruit and follow a cohort of more than 1,500 individuals involved in the justice system who screen positive for brain injury during the last phase of their prison sentence.
The research study, supported by a $2.5million grant from the US Department of Justice, will be implemented in four Pennsylvania State Correctional Institutions: Phoenix, Chester, Frackville, and Mahanoy.
During the first six months of the project, an implementation team will be established, and cross-system collaborations between Mount Sinai, PADOC and BIAPA will be initiated.
Collaboration with parole officers will be a key component of this project, and specialised brain injury training will be provided to staff at all prisons participating in the project.
Participants will be randomised into one of two groups: an intervention group that will receive at least one year of NRF, or a comparison group that will receive standard re-entry services.
Researchers will compare rates of recidivism and related outcomes such as productive activity, gainful employment, stable housing, and use of health-related programs.
NeuroResource Facilitation is an intervention that goes beyond information and referral, and can include direct assistance with applications, appointments, problem-solving, and advocacy.
NRF uses cognitive and behavioural strategies tailored to accommodate brain-injury-related challenges to help participants to effectively manage day-to-day tasks and take advantage of available treatments and services.
“Previous research conducted by our partners in 2016 demonstrated that one-year recidivism rates among justice-involved individuals with brain injury receiving NRF was 17 per cent, which is significantly lower than the average one-year recidivism rate of 35 per cent that was reported in the state’s 2013 recidivism report,” said Dr Kajankova.
“We are eager to partner with the PADOC and BIAPA to further evaluate the NRF intervention in a large-scale, rigorous clinical trial with justice-involved individuals with brain injury and conbribute our Center’s extensive experience leading large-scale, randomised, controlled clinical trials and decades of brain injury research.”
“We were encouraged by the results of a demonstration project of the implementation of NRF as an intervention to improve outcomes for justice-involved individuals with brain injury released to the community from a maximum security prison in Pennsylvania. We appreciate the opportunity to partner with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to study the efficacy of this intervention,” said Monica Vaccaro, BIAPA director of programs.
