On a Quest to Improve Lives
We’ve figured out how to use technology and science to move from crisis management to life transformation. And we’ve seen results.
Erik Kerr was at his wit’s end watching family members and friends loop in and out of addiction treatment, prison and mental health challenges. On the one hand, he saw a booming tech industry filled with promising tools and innovations. While on the other, he saw an accelerating mental health crisis supported by transactional solutions and systems. These systems were not designed to support and transform an individual across their entire journey within the system and beyond. He saw broken people being let down by a broken system.
LifeTraq is a pioneering, transformational platform that considers a person’s total journey and best outcomes. We connect all the dots. We connect the providers, caretakers and data needed to support individuals across their entire journey. Beginning with the end in mind, and designing accordingly, lives are saved.
Addressing a National Mental Health Crisis in Corrections
Correctional officers have been labeled, “A Forgotten Profession” due to the lack of programming that supports their health, resiliency, and overall wellbeing
Mental Health
Recidivism
Suicide
Substance Abuse
COs are exposed to a number of safety and wellness-related risks. Most notable the risks of death or physical injury, but of equal concern are mental health-related risks such as stress and burnout (Dowden & Tellier, 2004; Lambert et al., 2005). These risks can accumulate and place significant pressure on a correctional administration, high turnover rates limit the degree to which officers can effectively engage in the surveillance of inmates.
Over 75% of released inmates are reincarcerated within 5 years of discharge from prison, largely due to prisons focusing on punishment rather than rehabilitation.
There is a lack of transitional support in these key areas:
- Employment
- Health
- Housing
- Mentorship
- Skill Development
- Social Networks
LifeTraq ensures these transitions happens successfully and are tracked.
Correctional officers die earlier, at an average of 59 years of age, some 15 years less than the average age of death of the general public (Cheek, 1984; New Jersey Police Suicide Task Force, 2009).
This early mortality includes increased risk of suicide, with correctional officers dying by suicide at rates of 39% higher than the general working-age population, and double that of law enforcement officers (New Jersey Police Suicide Task Force, 2009; Stack & Tsoudis, 1997).
A survey among NYS Sheriffs revealed that they would consider released inmates getting to their first counseling appointment a major success in improved tracking and programming.
Sources: NIMH; NIJ; CDC; US Dept. of Veteran Affairs; TheNationsHealth.org; AddictionCenter.com
Our Action Plan for Creating Change
Get with the Guidelines
Partnering with Governments
Data to Drive Innovation
LifeTraq’s Get with The Guidelines is aimed at forming a series of guidelines to serve as the measurable standards for mental health and programming for correctional employees and inmates. In doing so, we will relieve the corrections system of its current mental health strains and reduce recidivism.
LifeTraq can play a role in advocating for improved prison reform standards and outcomes nationally. Partnering with governments will propel policy reform and solidify prison reform changes and outcomes.
LifeTraq and partnering organizations, like The Huntsman Mental Health Institute and The University of South Carolina, will identify trends harvested from LifeTraq data collected to guide future innovation, find more efficient models, and determine the most effective programming and outcomes.
These findings will then be used to improve Get with the Guidelines standards and needed legislation.