It is estimated that up to 80 percent of chronically ill inmates received no medical care prior to incarceration. From 1999 to 2004, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services jointly funded a national corrections demonstration project in seven states (California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey). The project was an effort to develop effective collaborations among corrections, the community, and public health and target inmates with HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis, substance abuse, and sexually transmitted diseases. This CDC/HRSA initiative was limited to the District of Columbia and 11 States which had high rates of HIV and a large proportion of HIV and AIDS in their correctional systems. Models of linked networks of health services, HIV/AIDS, STD, TB, hepatitis, and substance abuse prevention and treatment during and after incarceration were to be developed and evaluated. The CDC/HRSA also provided technical assistance, staff development and evaluation providers to ensure that the projects would have the technical support and assistance needed. They selected and funded an Evaluation Support Center (ESC) to work with projects to develop a collaborative data collection plan. Health departments from several States were awarded funding to implement their projects in prisons, jails, juvenile facilities, and other settings which collectively have become known as the Corrections Demonstration Project or CDP. Developments at the State level following the conclusion of Federal funding for the CDP have been overwhelmingly positive. As data from this project are disseminated through CDC’s final reports and publications, the lessons learned will continue to affect the States involved, as well as the wider corrections and public health communities. Endnotes