Armida Ayala, PhD, MHA¹, James Doyle, MS¹, Isabel Sanchez, BS¹, and Earl H. Leonard, MS². (1) Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Office of AIDS Programs and Policy, 600 S. Commonwealth Avenue, Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90005, 213-351-8364, aayala@dhs.co.la.ca.us, (2) Office of AIDS Programs and Policy, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, 600 S. Commonwealth Ave. Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90005

BACKGROUND. There are limited data on the number of HIV positive female inmates who are pregnant and/or of childbearing age and their access to services for perinatal prevention of HIV transmission while they are incarcerated or released. METHODS. From 2003–2004, we conducted 31 chart reviews of HIV-positive post-release female inmates from transitional case management activities. RESULTS. Nearly half (48%) of the women were White, 35% were African American, and 13% were Latina. All of the women were of childbearing age between 18–47 years of age. Most of the women were arrested for possession of controlled substance (42%) followed by prostitution (13%), and violation related to their parole or court appearance requirements (6%). Eighty seven percent (87%) received a pre-release plan to obtain transitional case management, transportation, housing, medical care, and mental health services. Prenatal care or information about HIV perinatal transmission was not initially included as an element of this plan. While 29% of the women received their HIV medications at discharge from jail, only one in eight (13%) of the women made an effective transition to community case management services upon release. Contributing factors include women being transferred to another correctional facility (29%), having less than 30 days of case management in jail (35%), or being immediately lost to follow-up (16%). CONCLUSIONS. Although HIV positive female inmates of childbearing age or pregnant were identified in the jails, there is a need for follow-up and perinatal prevention of HIV transmission services to increase health outcomes and avoid recidivism.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will

• Learn about challenges, barriers, and solutions to providing transitional planning and case management services to HIV positive incarcerated women.
• Learn predictors that will help identify clients at-risk of being lost to follow-up.
• Know about non-traditional approaches to implement interventions for hardest to reach women to prevent HIV perinatal transmission in jails and related settings.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Perinatal Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.