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Henrie M. Treadwell, PhD and Joyce H. Nottingham, PhD, MS

The authors are with the Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Henrie M. Treadwell, PhD, Morehouse School of Medicine, 720 Westview Dr SW, Suite 216, Atlanta, GA 30310 (e-mail: htreadwell{at}msm.edu).

The October Prisons and Health issue unleashed pent-up enthusiasm for more concerted commitment to responding to the needs of underserved populations that have institutional familiarity with the criminal justice system. The 3 letter writers from Miami, Fla, have first-hand experience in meeting these needs. Young reiterates the tragedies visited upon individuals and communities by a system that appears to be—in her words—vengeful and retributive. She paints a painful portrait of the homeless being incarcerated during Hurricane Wilma rather than being housed in shelters. Perez notes that efforts are under way to determine the depth of deprivation that ensues from confinement that might be prevented if community-based mental health and other services were made available to men in Overtown, a neighborhood Miami. Lukis recounts her personal experiences in a federal prison and finds hope for positive change in the establishment of Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s Ex-Offender Task Force.

We thank all 3 letter writers for their courageous work and witness as they give voice to the voiceless and provide a greater understanding of our failure to provide physical, educational, health, and economic resources to distressed communities before people are incarcerated and after people reenter society. At least in Miami and other pioneering communities throughout the United States, people are working diligently to propose real-world solutions.

In the 3 months since publication of the Prisons and Health issue, we have been inundated with positive responses from community advocates, health services providers, correctional associations, and members of the legal and policy communities.They have taken to heart the words of President George W. Bush in his 2004 State of the Union address, "When the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life."¹ We need to link up these supporters and scale up promising reform efforts toward convincing federal, state, and local institutions to devote their energies to discovering, translating, and implementing needed prevention and intervention activities regarding the criminal justice system and community-based care. Our beginning steps were halting, but we realize we are in a race against time to save the lives of our nation’s men, women, and children. None of us can afford the losses that will ensue if we fail to rehabilitate our systems of care and make a place at the table of health and human services for everyone.

Reference

1. Bush GW. State of the Union Address. Delivered January 20, 2004. Available at: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/stateoftheunion2004.htm. Accessed February 21, 2006.

This Article Extract Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Treadwell, H. M. Articles by Nottingham, J. H. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Treadwell, H. M. Articles by Nottingham, J. H.