Mental Health Pilot Project
Ensuring that every exoneree has access to trauma-informed treatment for PTSD and other mental health issues
Most exonerees emerge from years of wrongful incarceration with significant PTSD and mental health issues. Few have had a serious diagnosis, let alone treatment. What would it look like to change that?
The challenges are formidable: the stigma around getting help for mental health issues; inadequate access to care – some exonerees don’t have healthcare coverage, many more cannot afford to out-of-pocket costs; and the difficulty of finding a qualified therapist that is a match for the individual client.
With support from the Mary and Peter Levin Family Foundation, the Ittleson Foundation, and the Chichester DuPont Foundation, we developed a pilot project to survey exonerees in four states, determine which ones were having major symptoms of depression and PTSD, and then guide each client step-by-step to treatment from experienced, trauma-informed therapists, irrespective of their ability to pay.
116 CLIENTS
SCREENS FOR SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION AND PTSD
87 CLIENTS
GUIDED TO EXPERIENCED, TRAUMA-INFORMED THERAPISTS
11 PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS AND CLINICS
PROVIDED TREATMENT
71% OF PARTICIPANTS
REPORTED REDUCED SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION AND PTSD
“Working with After Innocence has been tremendously rewarding; both for the opportunity to support the work of such a great organization, and even more for the chance to get to know exonerees and contribute to their recovery.”
Keynan Hobbs, RN, CNS
Board Certified ANCC Psychiatric/Mental Health
La Mesa, California
Help Connect More Exonerees to Mental Health Care
Hundreds of exonerees across the country are ready and willing to get help with untreated mental health issues arising from their wrongful incarceration. Through your support, we will expand our successful mental health project to reach exonerees nationwide with the one-on-one help they need to get that highly skilled treatment, regardless of their ability to pay.