Jail detainees to get behavioral health medication faster with Safe Net RX

Detainees released from jails in eight southeast Iowa counties who are unable to pay for their behavioral health medications will be able to receive them temporarily at no cost through the Safe Net RX county jail program.

Southeast Iowa Link is partnering with Safe Net RX to eliminate the gap between when people are released from jail and when they are able to get their mental health prescriptions. Southeast Iowa Link serves Henry, Washington, Jefferson, Keokuk, Lee, Louisa, Van Buren and Des Moines counties.

'A lot of times what happens is somebody who has been arrested may have been self-medicating with illegal substances,” said Sarah Berndt, coordinator of disability services for Southeast Iowa Link. 'The jail will get them stabilized, but once they get discharged, it takes a lot of time to get an appointment with a mental health center or doctor who will prescribe medications.”

When people go to jail, they are able to talk to mental health providers who get them the medication they need. Detainees cannot take the medications they were prescribed in jail outside the jail, and prescribers in the jail cannot prescribe that medication outside the jail, which leads to a lapse in treatment.

Additionally, people in jail who have Medicaid often lose their Medicaid during their stay, which is an average 56 days in Southeast Iowa Link's counties. They have to reapply for Medicaid when they get out. That can take two to four weeks if they have had Medicaid before or six to eight weeks if they are a new member, said Audrey Menke, transition link coordinator in Henry County.

'They go back off their medications. For a lot of people on these types of medications, being off of them is detrimental,” Menke said. 'It leads to them being more symptomatic, which means more law enforcement interaction. It creates this spiral back downhill for them.”

With Safe Net RX, people will be able to see a provider within a couple of days of being released from jail.

Safe Net RX is a nonprofit established in 2001 to provide affordable medication to Iowans in need. The organization's jail program gives people access to behavioral health medication, with a goal of reducing recidivism.

When someone is about to be released from jail, jail staff will complete paperwork for them for Safe Net RX. After the detainee meets with a mental health professional, their medication will be mailed directly to them after they get out of jail, Berndt said.

Alan Brady, jail alternatives coordinator in Washington County, said Safe Net RX is a step in the right direction.

'With mental illness, medication is very important,” Brady said. 'Having that link where there's no lapse in managed medication is so important.”

Safe Net RX gives detainees a 90-day window for their Medicaid to be reactivated, Menke said.

'I'm really excited our region is going to take this opportunity the state has implemented and try to effectively use this resource, so we can lower our recidivism rates and keep people stabilized and have less contact with hospitals and law enforcement,” Menke said. 'I'm very excited we got the go-ahead.”

Menke said the program will begin for Southeast Iowa Link counties after February.