California will soon become the first state in the nation to cover healthcare services for incarcerated individuals through Medicaid (Medi-Cal). This ambitious effort – the CalAIM Justice-Involved Initiative – will enhance whole person healthcare models and post-release linkages to community-based care. Enhanced Care Management providers will play a critical role. This training will provide an overview of the changing landscape of correctional healthcare in California and the unique health and social service needs of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. Presenters will also review the unique requirements for serving this population of focus as an Enhanced Care Management provider.

At the end of this virtual session, participants will be able to:

• Discuss the epidemiology and unique needs of individuals who have transitioned or are transitioning from correctional settings back into the community
• Describe the changing Medi-Cal landscape that will impact justice-involved (JI) individuals in Los Angeles County (including CalAIM)
• List at least three of the unique requirements for serving eligible JI individuals as an Enhanced Care Management (ECM) provider

Presented by Rebekah Kharrzi, MPH, CPH, Associate Principal and Julie White, MSW, Principal, Health Management Associates

Complimentary for CCALAC Members and Affiliates

Register Now!

Instructor Biographies:

Rebekah Kharrzi, MPH, CPH

Rebekah Kharrazi is an accomplished public health professional with a broad range of expertise and skills to help clients navigate the public health and healthcare landscapes. Rebekah’s current focus is supporting counties and managed care plans in implementing the justice-involved initiatives under California’s expansive 1115 waiver demonstration – California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM).

Trained in epidemiology, Rebekah has done extensive policy and programmatic work throughout her career and across the public health spectrum, from injury prevention to chronic disease and genetics. A passion for addressing health inequities has led her to apply a health equity lens throughout her work and use policy change as a particularly impactful tool.

Prior to joining HMA, Rebekah was senior policy advisor for Alameda County Board of Supervisor Wilma Chan/Dave Brown – District 3 where she liaised with local hospitals, managed care plans, clinics, and health advocacy groups. Previously, she served as a health program specialist and then as a manager for the California Department of Public Health’s Genetic Disease Screening Program. As a manager, she led the California Newborn Screening Program Follow-up and Contracts Unit, where she handled dozens of contracts with screening and diagnostic testing laboratories and California Children’s Services Special Care Centers throughout the state. She also worked on federal policy initiatives as a program coordinator for the national non-profit Prevention Institute.

Rebekah earned a Master of Public Health in epidemiology from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and a bachelor’s degree in human evolutionary biology from Harvard University. Rebekah has a Certificate in Public Health from the National Board of Public Health Examiners.

Julie White, MSW

With more than 25 years of experience in comprehensive healthcare and justice-related service delivery, Julie White has developed policy, strategic plans and utilized implementation science to improve complex care operations, behavioral health programs, and streamline processes to improve quality and overall care delivery.

She has worked alongside managed care organizations, large healthcare systems, community advocacy groups, and academic medical centers, most recently serving as chief operating officer for Rutgers University Correctional Health Care (UCHC). In that role she was responsible for statewide correctional healthcare contracts, annual budget management and oversight of staff and faculty. While at UCHC, she led the response to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic across the system’s multiple congregate settings. The multi-pronged response included implementing ongoing weekly universal testing and vaccination, as well as safety protocols, supply chain management and workforce infrastructure plans to ensure continuity of care and adjustment throughout the pandemic.

During her career, Julie has focused on building and improving cross-functional relationships and developing collaborative programs. She served in various leadership positions at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where she directed health and criminal justice programs and served as the central point of contact for all client interactions with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Additionally, she served as president of Veritas Correctional Services, where she founded and led operations of the consulting business, which provided client management and expertise across the correctional healthcare spectrum.

Julie’s background, varied and deep in expertise, also includes serving as adjunct faculty at multiple universities and colleges where she developed and taught curriculum centered around sociology and criminal justice. She is a mental health clinician who has also provided direct oversight of offender services operations at the Suffolk County House of Correction.

She earned a Master of Social Work from Syracuse University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology and criminal justice from the State University of New York, Geneseo.