Recovery Finance: Financial Health and Mental Health After Incarceration

May 5, 2025 updated by: Yale University
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.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

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.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

238

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Connecticut
      • New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06513
        • Recruiting
        • Yale University Program for Recovery and Community Health
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Annie Harper, Ph.D.
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Chyrell Bellamy, Ph.D.

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

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

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Financial Capability Support
The participants in this arm will receive one-on-one financial coaching, which entails monthly or more frequent meetings with a financial coach. The initial meetings will be held in person and subsequent meetings may be held via zoom, phone, or in person depending on the comfort and convenience of the participant. Participants will also receive access to safe and affordable financial services, which includes support with managing any existing bank accounts, or supporting a person to open a new overdraft-free account. Coaches can also help people to access other financial products such as free tax preparation (VITA), credit builder loans, online bank accounts, or other products recommended by our Justice Tech partner.
Experimental: Financial Capability Support with Peer Support
The participants randomized into this arm will receive services offered in the Financial Capability Support arm with the additional services of one-on-one peer support provided by a trained Recovery Support Specialist. Recovery Support Specialist, also referred to as Wellness coaches, will provide weekly meetings (30-60 minutes in duration) to the participants.
Behavioral: Financial Capability Support with Peer Support Services
The participants in this arm will receive one-on-one financial coaching, which entails monthly or more frequent meetings with a financial coach. Participants will also receive access to safe and affordable financial services, which includes support with managing any existing bank accounts, or supporting a person to open a new overdraft-free account. Coaches can also help people to access other financial products such as free tax preparation (VITA), credit builder loans, online bank accounts, or other products recommended by our Justice Tech partner. The participants will also receive will receive the additional services of one-on-one peer support provided by a trained Recovery Support Specialist. Recovery Support Specialist, also referred to as Wellness coaches, will provide weekly meetings (30-60 minutes in duration) to the participants.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Finances After Incarceration
Time Frame: Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
57 questions (plus sub-questions) measuring financial health after incarceration. Outcomes include: use of safe and affordable financial products (no/yes averaged across multiple products, range 0-1), Savings (ordinal scale for amount of savings, range 1-8), Credit score (ordinal scale for range of credit scores, range 0-6). Measuring change over time.
Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
Money And Mental Health Scale
Time Frame: Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
9-item survey used to measure money and mental health, including financial well-being. Total score range is 0-4, Higher scores indicate worse effect of money on mental health. Measuring mean change over time.
Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
Housing & Employment - QOL
Time Frame: Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
21-items selected from the Endicott Quality of Life measuring housing and employment. Subscales include satisfaction with living situation, satisfaction with safety, and satisfaction with work. Satisfaction rating scales range from 1-7 with higher scores indicating more satisfaction. An additional outcome is number of days worked in the last 90 days. For both satisfaction and number of days worked, measuring mean change over time.
Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
Social Needs Screening Tool (CMS-AHC HRSN)
Time Frame: Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
24-item screening tool assessing social determinants of health. Outcomes include financial strain (1-3), employment help needed (1-3), living situation (1-3). Higher scores indicate more social needs. Measuring change over time.
Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
Service Utilization
Time Frame: Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
31-item survey used to measure utilization of health and mental health services. Outcomes are indicated by subscales measuring number of visits to medical care outpatient, medical emergency services, mental health outpatient, mental health emergency services, psychiatric rehabilitation services, self-help programs, and alcohol/drug counseling. Other subscales indicate number of nights in a facility for a medical/surgical problem, psychiatric problem, substance use problem, or staffed residential facility. Answer formats are number of visits or days. Higher scores indicate more service use. Measuring mean change over time.
Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
Access To Health Services (from Phenx Toolkit)
Time Frame: Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
10 questions measuring access to healthcare services. Outcomes include wellness visit in the past year (yes/no), delaying/missing medical care because of the cost (yes/no), number of urgent care visits, having a usual place to go for medical care (no, yes, multiple). Measuring change over time.
Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
Intersectional Discrimination Index
Time Frame: Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
44-items (with branching logic) assessing discrimination, rating scales vary by question. Anticipated discrimination subscale ranges from 0-4, meaned across items. Lifetime day-to-day discrimination subscale ranges from 0-9, summed across items. Past year day-to-day discrimination subscale ranges from 0-18, summed across items. Lifetime major discrimination subscale ranges from 0-26, summed across items. Past year major discrimination subscale ranges from 0-13, summed across items. Higher scores indicate more discrimination. Measuring mean change over time.
Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Recidivism
Time Frame: Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
Number of days spent in jail/prison in last 6 months. The data are assessed through self-report and the public access criminal database called ctlookup.org. Measuring mean change over time.
Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
Wellness in 8 Dimensions Inventory
Time Frame: Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
67-item survey measuring wellness, rating scale 1-4, summary score meaned across items. Total score range is 1-4. Higher scores indicate higher wellness. Measuring mean change over time.
Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
SF-12v2 (Short Form Health Survey)
Time Frame: Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
12-item survey measuring health, question format varies. Subscale range is 0-4 for Physical Component/Limitations Summary and Mental Component/Limitations Summary. Higher scores indicate more interference with daily living due to health problems. Measuring mean change over time.
Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
Promis 1.0 - Anxiety for DSM-5
Time Frame: Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
8-item survey measuring anxiety. Rating scale is 1-5, summary score is meaned across items. Total score range from 1-5. Higher scores indicate more anxiety. Measuring mean change over time.
Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)
Time Frame: Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
10-item survey measuring depression, rating scale is 0-3, summary score meaned across items. Total score ranges from 0-3. Higher scores indicating more depression. Measuring mean change over time.
Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
PCL-5, (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5)
Time Frame: Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
20-item survey measuring trauma. Rating scale is 0-4, summary score meaned across items. Total score range is 0-4. Higher scores indicate more traumatic symptoms. Measuring mean change over time.
Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
Addiction Severity Index (ASI) Limited Form
Time Frame: Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment
37-item survey measuring addiction with higher scores indicating more addiction, question format varies. Rating scale total score range from 0-4. Total scores range 0-1 for Alcohol Use Composite Score and Drug Use Composite Score. Higher scores indicate more alcohol or drug use/problems. Measuring mean change over time.
Baseline Assessment, 6-Month Assessment, and 12-Month Assessment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Yale University

Collaborators

National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Chyrell Bellamy, Ph.D., Yale University
  • Principal Investigator: Annie Harper, Ph.D., Yale University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 30, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

April 24, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 24, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 11, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 2, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

April 6, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 7, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 5, 2025

Last Verified

May 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2000033658
  • 1R01MD018255-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Data will be shared via the National Data Archive (NDA).

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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