The program boasts an impressive success rate. Last year, only two of 339 clients returned to prison, said Carson Easley, MS, RN, director of nursing for the Authority. Nurses in New Start have some authority over the clients, because those who violate a program rule can be sent back to prison. New Start nurses are appreciated, Easley said, which may stem from the way the nurses show respect for their clients even at the level of their attire. Rather than Nurse Ratched s formal white uniform, New Start nurses wear business clothes.
Clients can see what s appropriate to wear for the workplace.
New Start is in some ways similar to the AB 2034 program. In the California program, clinicians go into jails and reach out to homeless people to link those with mental illness with treatment, housing, life-skills classes and jobs. Licensed vocational nurses, licensed psychiatric technicians and registered nurses teach classes, visit with clients and make sure they take medications. Initially, clinicians try to meet with clients every day to forge a bond. Taylor Shelton, LVN, has spent 25 years off and on in the mental health field.