Register Now: Webinar on Support for Youth Returning From Incarceration

A new webi­nar seeks to max­i­mize col­lab­o­ra­tion among child wel­fare pro­fes­sion­als, Med­ic­aid sys­tems and juve­nile jus­tice part­ners to bet­ter serve young peo­ple return­ing to their com­mu­ni­ties after being incar­cer­at­ed. The ses­sion — sched­uled for 2 p.m. ET on Wednes­day, March 4, 2026 — will focus on using Med­ic­aid for youth health and well-being and fea­ture experts from the Cen­ter for Health Care Strate­gies, which is a grantee of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. 

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Pol­i­cy Change Paves Way for Stronger Reen­try Support

A pol­i­cy change that went into effect on Jan­u­ary 1, 2025, required states to pro­vide cer­tain Med­ic­aid and Children’s Health Insur­ance Pro­gram ser­vices — includ­ing screen­ings, assess­ments and case man­age­ment — to youth return­ing home from incarceration.

Many young peo­ple in cor­rec­tion­al insti­tu­tions and oth­er res­i­den­tial set­tings expe­ri­ence gaps in health care, includ­ing gaps in behav­ioral health care. Youth in cor­rec­tion­al insti­tu­tions who have also spent time in fos­ter care may have unmet health needs asso­ci­at­ed with fam­i­ly sep­a­ra­tion or trau­ma. Under the new fed­er­al require­ments, most are eli­gi­ble for reen­try sup­port to help their well-being.

States must pro­vide screen­ings, assess­ments and case man­age­ment short­ly before a youth is released and imme­di­ate­ly after release for eli­gi­ble youth. Addi­tion­al­ly: In many states, incar­cer­at­ed chil­dren who are in fos­ter care and incar­cer­at­ed young adults up to age 26 who have expe­ri­enced fos­ter care are eli­gi­ble for reen­try ser­vices through approved or pend­ing Sec­tion 1115 Med­ic­aid reen­try demon­stra­tion waivers.

“The pol­i­cy change increas­es access to Med­ic­aid-eli­gi­ble ser­vices that ben­e­fit youth, fam­i­lies and com­mu­ni­ties,” said Joe Rib­sam, the Foundation’s direc­tor of child wel­fare and juve­nile jus­tice pol­i­cy. ​“Child wel­fare agen­cies are key part­ners in con­nect­ing youth with Med­ic­aid-eli­gi­ble care as they return to their com­mu­ni­ties from incar­cer­a­tion. Deliv­er­ing that care requires strong coor­di­na­tion across child wel­fare, jus­tice and Med­ic­aid systems.”

Webi­nar Dis­cus­sion Topics

Dur­ing the webi­nar, par­tic­i­pants will explore:

• What child wel­fare lead­ers and prac­ti­tion­ers need to know and do now to improve reen­try plan­ning for young people.
• How to strength­en col­lab­o­ra­tion among child wel­fare, Med­ic­aid and juve­nile jus­tice agen­cies to help return­ing youth get the health ser­vices they need.

The hour­long webi­nar will ben­e­fit any indi­vid­ual ded­i­cat­ed to sup­port­ing the health, well-being and out­comes of young peo­ple exit­ing incar­cer­a­tion. This audi­ence also includes child wel­fare lead­ers and staff as well as part­ners in Med­ic­aid offices, juve­nile jus­tice sys­tems and com­mu­ni­ty-based orga­ni­za­tions who serve young peo­ple with fos­ter care experience. 

Ses­sion Details

Date and time: Wednes­day, March 4, 2026, from 2 to 3 p.m. ET

Par­tic­i­pants:

• Elis­sa Gel­ber, senior pro­gram offi­cer, Cen­ter for Health Care Strategies;
• Liz Buck, senior pro­gram offi­cer, Cen­ter for Health Care Strate­gies; and
• Joe Rib­sam, direc­tor of child wel­fare and juve­nile jus­tice pol­i­cy, the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

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More Resources on Lever­ag­ing Medicaid 

The Cen­ter for Health Care Strate­gies, with sup­port from the Casey Foun­da­tion, has pro­duced sev­er­al resources — list­ed below — to help indi­vid­u­als learn more about using Med­ic­aid to sup­port the health and well-being of young peo­ple in the jus­tice system. 

• A fact sheet, ​“Col­lab­o­rat­ing to Sup­port Youth Return­ing from Incar­cer­a­tion,” high­lights how fed­er­al Med­ic­aid and CHIP pol­i­cy changes affect youth return­ing from incar­cer­a­tion. It out­lines key actions that child wel­fare lead­ers can take to address this population’s health needs and can be a resource for any­one who plans or pro­vides reen­try ser­vices for youth.
• A webi­nar, ​“Med­ic­aid Oppor­tu­ni­ties to Sup­port Youth Leav­ing Incar­cer­a­tion,” pro­vides an overview of the new fed­er­al Med­ic­aid leg­is­la­tion and a pan­el dis­cus­sion fea­tur­ing pro­fes­sion­als with direct respon­si­bil­i­ty for imple­ment­ing the new provisions.
• A webi­nar, ​“What Youth Jus­tice Lead­ers Should Know About Med­ic­aid,” pro­vides guid­ance on using Med­ic­aid to sup­port youth — under age 21 — involved in the jus­tice sys­tem from pre­ven­tion and diver­sion through incar­cer­a­tion and reentry. 
• A 22-page report, New Med­ic­aid Oppor­tu­ni­ties to Sup­port Youth Leav­ing Incar­cer­a­tion, details steps for align­ing Med­ic­aid fund­ing with broad­er com­mu­ni­ty and pub­lic safe­ty goals. The report is geared toward efforts in New Hamp­shire, New Jer­sey, New Mex­i­co, Ore­gon and Utah. Its authors have also pro­duced a relat­ed four-page pol­i­cy cheat sheet.