Health Equity & Criminal Justice Micro-Credential
Take our Health Equity & Criminal Justice (HECJ) Micro-Credential to better understand and address the intersection of criminal justice and public health.
Through this three-course micro-credential you will focus on mass incarceration as a social determinant of health and a major public health challenge in the U.S.
HECJ Micro-Credential Highlights
This credit bearing micro-credential provides you with an introduction to special topics of public health and social justice and a specialized curriculum centered on the criminal justice system, strategies for prevention and reduction of justice involvement, correctional health systems, reentry and recidivism, and social and community impacts of incarceration.
In Touro University California's Health Equity & Criminal Justice Micro-Credential, you will:
- Explore social justice topics through a public health lens and their impact on individuals, families, and communities.
- Examine historical origins of the criminal justice system and analyze the development of legal systems and the impacts of mass incarceration.
- Examine U.S. law and public health at the intersection of the criminal justice system.
- Investigate how systemic oppression, racism, and discrimination fuels justice-involvement and its impacts on public health.
- Examine the collateral consequences of criminal justice policy at local, state, and federal levels and their impact on community health and well-being.
- Explore the cumulative effects of police violence on community trauma as a social determinant of health.
- Formulate, analyze, and advocate for policies aimed to improve the health of populations impacted by the criminal justice system.
- Apply evaluation and design of policy initiatives on public health and health equity centered around criminal justice in a variety of professional environments.
Micro-Credential Curriculum
This micro-credential courses provide an overview of the intersection of criminal justice and public health within a framework focusing on mass incarceration as a social determinant of health and a major public health challenge in the U.S. In addition, you will be able to obtain instruction to assist in evaluation and design of policy initiatives on public health and health equity centered around criminal justice.
To complete the micro credential, you can choose one of the following course sequence options:
- Option 1 – Complete the micro-credential in two (2) consecutive terms: Complete the Course I in the fall term the Course II and III in the spring (Course III may be offered asynchronously ONLY).
- Option 2 – Complete the micro-credential in three (3) consecutive terms: Complete the Course I in the fall term, Course II in the spring, and Course III in the summer.
What You’ll Learn
The micro-credential consists of three online courses that will provide participants with and understanding of the impacts of the criminal justice system on public health by which structural bias, social inequities and racism undermine health and create challenges to achieving health equity at organizational, community and societal levels.
PBHC 632 - Social Justice Seminar (1 Credits)
This course is the discussion section and seminar for the Social Justice in Public Health Lecture Series. In addition to the lecture series, this 1-unit course requires participation in a 2-hour discussion section and a final paper. Discussion sections will include small group discussions and activities designed to understand and synthesize the topics from the previous week’s lecture/presentation.
PBHC 633 - Criminal Justice and Public Health (3 Credits)
This course will provide students with an overview of the intersection between the criminal justice system and public health. Students will gain an understanding of how U.S. mass incarceration is a public health issue. Topics will include the history and philosophy of incarceration, criminal justice and policy, health issues in prisons, women and incarceration, reintegration after incarceration, the impacts of incarceration on families and communities, prevention, restorative justice, juvenile justice, disability justice, as well as institutional racism, police violence, mass incarceration, and the collateral consequences of incarceration.
PBHC 634 - Criminal Justice Law & Advocacy (3 Credits)
This course will provide students with a foundation in constitutional law and civic education while focusing on a wide range of important issues in public health law, regulations, and the factors at play when developing advocacy strategies on issues that intersect public health and the criminal justice system. Students will gain an understanding of seminal and precedent-setting public health law cases that have led to policy reform in incarceration, prevention, correctional health, and reentry health.
At the conclusion of this micro-credential, you will be able to:
- Identify problems in the criminal justice system that adversely impact public health;
- Address a public health problem or issue related to correctional or reentry health promoting health education and information about symptoms and treatments of disease and protection from risk of illness or criminal justice policies with far-reaching effects on social justice and the health of individuals, families, and communities;
- Identify decision makers and stakeholders;
- Understand political considerations;
- Understand legal authority for public health policies and interventions;
- Analyze cost-benefits;
- Develop options for mobilizing community partnerships and motivating people to support a cause; and
- Select a specific issue and perform the above analysis, write policy memos, and present policy memo presentations.
Who is this Micro-Credential For & How Can it Advance Your Career?
If you are looking to advance or transition in your career, or if you’re interested in supplementing your existing educational experience, the Health Equity and Criminal Justice Public Health Micro-Credential can you help you.
- The micro-credential offers you the opportunity to deepen and articulate your knowledge of mass incarceration as a social determinant of health and to expand your skill sets in advocacy to promote policies and programs that will improve community health.
- If you are in the non-profit sector, completing the micro-credential can help you serve marginalized communities impacted by justice involvement.
- If you are a health care provider or health systems leader, this micro-credential can help you understand the effects of the legal system on health inequities and identify and implement strategies for addressing inequities. You will also learn how to leverage resources and soft power to mitigate the downstream effects of the criminal justice system on public health and to develop transformative upstream solutions.
- This micro-credential will help you become a health equity leader at an organization that delivers programs and interventions designed to address the harmful impacts of the criminal legal system.