Valentino Valdez was given his birth certificate, his Social Security card, a T-shirt, and khaki pants when he was released from a Texas prison in 2019 at age 21. But he didn’t have health insurance, mental health medications, or access to a doctor, he said.
Three years later, he landed in an inpatient hospital after expressing suicidal thoughts.
After more than a decade cycling through juvenile detention, foster care placements, and state prisons, Valdez realizes now that treatment for his mental health conditions would have made life on his own much easier.
“It’s not until you’re put in, like, everyday situations and you respond adversely and maladaptive,” he said, “you kind of realize that what you went through had an effect on you.”
“I was struggling with a lot of mental stuff,” said Valdez, now 27.
For years, people like Valdez have often been left to fend for themselves when seeking health care services after their release from jail, prison, or other carceral facilities. Despite this population’s high rate of mental health problems and substance use disorders, they often return to their communities with no coverage, which increases their chances of dying or suffering a lapse that sends them back behind bars.
A new federal law aims to better connect incarcerated children and young adults who are eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program to services before their release. The goal is …