North Jersey Community Research Initiative

Project Renew is part of the North Jersey Community Research Initiative that works with scientific prevention tools to help people determine if personal history and behaviors have placed them at risk for major health problems.

This project does not stop there. Collectively, clients and counselors work to find ways to prevent or deal with those health problems and safety issues.

This NJCRI Division includes: Corrections Project, Safety Counts and Healthy Relationships Intervention.

CORRECTIONS PROJECT

NJCRI correctional HIV project works both in a lock-up facility and in the community. The program provides health education to inmates who are at high risk or living with HIV, as well as, continuity of care throughout their incarceration and eventual release to the community. NJCRI has implemented this project at Northern State Prison in Newark.

Northern State Prison:

The program provides risk assessment, referrals for HIV Testing & Counseling, health education, and risk management for inmates who request services. Inmates with positive test results will be referred for medical follow-ups as part of discharge planning and case management.

Prison Discharge Planning and Community Follow-up Case Management:

This project helps inmates in the transitional planning to the community; that includes: housing, transportation, medical appointments, and job referrals. Discharge planning begins six months prior to release. Once an inmate is released from prison he is assigned a case manager who is responsible for making referrals to address the medical needs, help secure financial support, counseling, and family service support and permanent housing.

SAFETY COUNTS

Safety Counts is a new HIV prevention education intervention approved by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Safety Counts’ objective is to reduce the risk of HIV and Hepatitis among drug users. It also acts to reduce sexual practices that place people at risk. The Safety Counts intervention is appropriate for HIV positive as well as HIV negative drug users. Safety Counts is based on research that found this intervention to be effective in reducing the high-risk sex and drug use behaviors among both injecting and non-injecting drug users.

Safety Counts is a behaviorally focused, seven-session intervention, which includes both structured and unstructured psycho-educational activities in group and individual settings.

HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS

Healthy Relationships is a five-session, small-group intervention for men and women living with HIV/AIDS.  It is based on Social Cognitive Theory and focuses on developing skills and building self-sufficiency and positive expectations about new behaviors through modeling behaviors and practicing new skills.