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Pepin County jail adds health appraisals, harm-reduction kits for longer stays
Summary
Pepin County jail updated nursing procedures to provide health appraisals for detainees held 14 days or more and to distribute harm-reduction supplies at release, officials told the CJCC on July 15.
Pepin County is expanding jail health services to include routine health appraisals for anyone detained 14 or more days and to provide harm-reduction kits on release, the county’s representative told the Criminal Justice Collaborating Council on July 15.
"Anyone who comes in and stays for a 14 or more-day period will be doing health appraisals," said Heidi Stewart during the meeting, describing a newly implemented policy that also integrates life-skill promotion into health-history assessments and offers resource referrals after release. Stewart outlined that the county’s harm-reduction offerings include needle exchanges, sharps disposal, Narcan, fentanyl test strips and Deterra drug-deactivation pouches; kits also include condoms.
Council members said the measures were intended to reduce immediate health risks at release and provide continuity of care. A council member asked whether the jail pays extra for nursing services; Jake Laehn, serving as chief deputy in the absence of the sheriff, said he was not aware of Buffalo County’s payment arrangement for jail nursing. The council did not adopt any separate funding action at the meeting; the policy changes were presented as implemented practice.
Why it matters: providing overdose-reversal medication and testing supplies on release and conducting health appraisals can affect short-term health outcomes for people returning to the community and connect them to community resources.
What’s next: the CJCC received the policy update as part of its regular meeting packet; no additional vote or funding directive was recorded.
