Recovery Finance: Financial Health and Mental Health After Incarceration

This proposal will address financial wellbeing, an often overlooked but important factor impacting reentry for justice-involved people with mental health challenges, who are disproportionately Black and Latine. The project will change community level determinants by integrating financial capability support (one-on-one coaching and access to financial tools and services) into existing services and training bank and credit union staff to reduce discrimination. It will also support collaborative community efforts working towards upstream policy and legal reforms to reduce the incidence of those financial challenges.

This research project will use Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) methods to achieve the following specific aim:

1. Change community level determinants that impact financial well-being and health of the target group by training existing service provider including: i) community-based financial capability providers to be able to address financial difficulties of the target group; ii) service providers along the criminal justice pathway to be able to provide basic financial guidance to target group; iii) financial institution staff to reduce discrimination related to financial consequences of justice-involvement and mental illness. The investigator will also support community collaborations working for legal/policy reform that impacts finances of target group.
2. Use mixed methods to assess impact on community determinants, measuring integration of financial capability support into existing services, ability of financial coaches to support target group, access to financial products, attitudes, knowledge and behavior of bank staff, strength of community collaborations, and progress towards changes in laws and policies.
3. The investigator will assess impact on individuals by measuring target mechanisms (financial skills, self-efficacy and behavior) hypothesized to mediate the relationship between financial capability support and primary outcomes including financial well-being and other health determinants (employment, housing, social support, mental health supports, and belonging), secondary outcomes (health and recidivism) and mediators between primary and secondary outcomes (hope, empowerment, and mastery).
4. Assess the value of integrating peer support into community-based financial capability support for the target group by randomizing participants into two groups, financial capability support only, or financial capability support plus peer support.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* Have been released from jail or prison 36 months ago or less
* Self-identify as having experiences with trauma, mental illness/mental distress, or substance use
* Living or using services in the greater New Haven area
* Interested in receiving financial guidance

Exclusion Criteria:

* Less than 18 years of age
* Not have been released from jail or prison 36 months ago or less
* Not self-identify as having experiences with trauma, mental illness/mental distress, or substance use
* Not living or using services in the greater New Haven area
* Not interested in receiving financial guidance