Carrie Pettus-Davis

Incarcerated individuals’ experiences of COVID-19 in the United States
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Stephanie Kennedy, Christopher Veeh
This study examines steps taken by correctional staff and incarcerated individuals to reduce transmission risk for COVID-19. Data were drawn from interviews with 327 individuals incarcerated in 3 states. Overall, 9.9% of participants contracted COVID-19. Most participants wore face masks, washed hands, and practiced physical distancing. Participants reported that most facilities suspended visitation and volunteers, provided face masks, and sanitized. Few individuals were released early. Data indicate early adoption of many CDC guidelines, although state variation existed.
Category: COVID-19

Support4Families: A Proposed Intervention Model to Support Families of Individuals Returning Home From Incarceration
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis
Leaving incarceration and returning home (i.e., reentry) affects individuals and their families; 90% of individuals releasing from prison rely on family for critical reentry supports. Although positive family support during this period is empirically linked to an individual’s success, providing support can place a substantial emotional, social, and fiscal toll on family units.
Category: Social Support

Associations between Well-Being and Reincarceration
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Christopher Veeh
Preliminary findings from the 5-Key Model study suggest that participation in 5-Key Model services was associated with reduced reincarceration at 8 and 15 months post-release. Increased overall well-being and increased well-being on each of the 5 Keys were also associated with reduced reincarceration; those receiving the 5-Key Model had higher levels of well-being at 15 months post-release.
Category: 5-Key Model for Reentry, Well-Being

The Role of Preparatory Programming in Increasing the Effectiveness of a Sex Offender Treatment Intervention
Published:
| Author: Tanya Renn, Christopher Veeh, Melissa D. Grady, David Edwards, Carrie Pettus-Davis, Katherine Kelton
Increasing the effectiveness of programs designed to treat individuals who have sexually offended is a critical step in reducing the rates of sexual violence in our communities. Yet, the research on such programs have yielded inconsistent results with regards to their effectiveness in reducing sexual recidivism among participants. Some researchers have explored whether the dose of treatment impacts recidivism, but there remains limited knowledge around the dose-response relationship for individuals who have sexually offended.
Category: Sex Offenders

COVID-19, Incarceration, and Reentry
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Stephanie Kennedy, Faye Miller
This report presents data on the COVID-19 related experiences of incarcerated individuals and individuals recently released from incarceration. Study participants report how they learned about COVID-19 while incarcerated and identified the strategies both the facilities they were incarcerated in and they themselves as individuals took to prevent infection.
Category: 5-Key Model for Reentry, Well-Being, COVID-19

THE OPIOID CRISIS AMONG 5-KEY MODEL STUDY PARTICIPANTS
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Shelby Pederson
Learn how opioid use affects individuals in our first four 5-Key Model Phase 1 states - Florida, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Texas - as they leave incarceration and return home.
Category: 5-Key Model for Reentry

THE OPIOID CRISIS AMONG INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED INCARCERATION IN Kentucky
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Shelby Pederson
Learn how opioid use affects individuals in Kentucky as they leave incarceration and return home. The reentry period is a high-risk time for individuals who use opioids and for those diagnosed with an opioid use disorder. Policy recommendations include infusing the Opioid Use Disorder Continuum of Care into both correctional and community-based settings to increase screening, linkage, initiation, and retention of affected individuals into prevention or treatment services.
Category: 5-Key Model for Reentry

THE OPIOID CRISIS AMONG INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED INCARCERATION IN Pennsylvania
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Shelby Pederson
Learn how opioid use affects individuals in Pennsylvania as they leave incarceration and return home. The reentry period is a high-risk time for individuals who use opioids and for those diagnosed with an opioid use disorder. Policy recommendations include infusing the Opioid Use Disorder Continuum of Care into both correctional and community-based settings to increase screening, linkage, initiation, and retention of affected individuals into prevention or treatment services.
Category: 5-Key Model for Reentry

THE OPIOID CRISIS AMONG INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED INCARCERATION IN Texas
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Shelby Pederson
Learn how opioid use affects individuals in Texas as they leave incarceration and return home. The reentry period is a high-risk time for individuals who use opioids and for those diagnosed with an opioid use disorder. Policy recommendations include infusing the Opioid Use Disorder Continuum of Care into both correctional and community-based settings to increase screening, linkage, initiation, and retention of affected individuals into prevention or treatment services.
Category: 5-Key Model for Reentry

Associations of Childhood and Adult Trauma on Substance Misuse and Mental Health Among Incarcerated Men
Published:
| Author: John Moore, Tanya Renn, Christopher Veeh, Carrie Pettus-Davis
Men are overrepresented in prisons and report higher rates of trauma exposure than the general population. This study examines the role of trauma exposure across the lifespan on substance use disorder, mental health status, and emotional well-being among incarcerated individuals nearing community reentry. Childhood trauma exposure severity was significantly associated with generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive episode, and reduced emotional well-being. Adult cumulative trauma exposure was significantly associated with substance use disorder.
Category: Trauma, Mental Health, Substance Use

The Well-Being Development Model: A New Conceptual Framework to Guide Transitional Reentry Services for Individuals Releasing from Incarceration
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Christopher Veeh, Tanya Renn, Stephanie Kennedy
Learn about the Well-Being Development Model (WBDM), the conceptual framework upon which the 5-Key Model for Reentry was built. This paper details the history of reentry and the development of this innovative well-being-oriented theoretical model by academic researchers, correctional stakeholders, practitioners, and individuals who had experienced incarceration. This paper is under review for publication.
Category: Well-Being

The opioid crisis among individuals who have experienced incarceration in Florida
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Shelby Pederson
Learn how opioid use affects individuals in Florida as they leave incarceration and return home. The reentry period is a high-risk time for individuals who use opioids and for those diagnosed with an opioid use disorder. Policy recommendations include infusing the Opioid Use Disorder Continuum of Care into both correctional and community-based settings to increase screening, linkage, initiation, and retention of affected individuals into prevention or treatment services.
Category: 5-Key Model for Reentry, Results for Policymakers

Trauma and Loss During Reentry
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Tanya Renn, Stephanie Kennedy
This report presents data about the extremely stressful life events experienced by study participants in the 8 months after they left incarceration and returned home. These stressful life events included losing a loved one to homicide, having been violently assaulted, witnessing violence and death in the home or community, finding out about the death or serious injury of a loved one, being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, and losing critical resources like housing, employment, income, transportation, and social support.
Category: Reentry, Well-Being, 5-Key Model for Reentry

Trauma and Loss During Reentry: Key Takeaways
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis, Tanya Renn, Stephanie Kennedy
Read key takeaways from the Seventh Quarterly Report from the 5-Key Model study which details extremely stressful life events experienced by study participants in the 8 months after release from prison including losing a loved one to homicide, having been violently assaulted, witnessing violence and death, learning about the death or serious injury of a loved one, being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, and losing vital resources like housing, employment, income, transportation, and social support.
Category: Reentry, 5-Key Model for Reentry, Well-Being

Transforming Policy and Research on Reentry
Published:
| Author: Carrie Pettus-Davis
Failed transitions of individuals from incarceration back to communities—otherwise known as reentry—is one of the largest drivers of hyper-incarceration practices in the United States. Thirteen million people cycle through incarceration every year - 95% of whom come home to our shared communities and most will be re-incarcerated. Failed reentry is driven by a combination of structural barriers, public policy missteps, unwelcoming communities, and human agency. This chapter critiques what we know about failed reentry and proposes three “big ideas” for reforming reentry.