Table 3 Examples of quotations pertaining to the 3 thematic findings

1. Psychosocial vs. logistical barriers and facilitators1.1.1.

“Without my family support and without X it would be pretty hard because you would have to navigate and try to find out who’s hiring, who’s gonna accept you, you know, and where can you get housing, where can you get food, where can you get clothing because, once you’re released, they just hand you a buncha paper and say, ‘Here.’” -Patient/client

“I think if you have people like that, that are very, uh, focused on you, and helping you, it’ll really help you move along, and not be so depressed. Because getting out of the, uh, rehab facility and, and being incarcerated, it’s depressing. It’s extremely depressing, demoralizing, demotivating, and you know, and so, you get out of there, and you’re just like, ‘Oh, gosh, finally I can.’” - Patient/client

“They’re in and out, in and out, because they have no stability. They don’t have the basics, so they do whatever they do to survive.” -Medical

“I mean, there are so many, um, layers to it that you’ve got to figure out how to address it and how to get them to it, because it may not, it may be they want the help but they don’t know how to go about it. You, uh, “Yeah, I know it’s there. I don’t know how to get there, I don’t know how I’m going to afford getting there, and, in the meantime, I’ve got to find a place to live and I’ve got to eat,” so what do you do?...Yeah, these are common things. I mean, people need their basic needs met first.” - Legal

2. Medical and legal entities’ competing priorities1.

“They go to those services at the parole offices, but they’re handed, like, a sheet. And the sheet will have 12 different people on it to call. Well, these are services you might be interested in. They call 9 of them, the numbers don’t work. And, you know, if that’s what you’re supposed to get to help, and you already have these default position that nobody cares, and I’m given this by the TDCJ parole officer or case manager, I mean, I – I haven’t changed my way of thinking at all. In fact, it’s just cinched.” - Legal

“I think a need that they don’t pay too much attention about is medical. Um, because I get their mentality. They’re trying to survive for today, you know?” -Legal

3. Need for a low-barrier, collaborative, patient-centered approach with the goal of self-sufficiency1.1.1.1.

“We’re enabling them to move forward in a manner that is gonna make them a productive citizen. They’re gonna contribute to society versus taking away from it, not only from a tax standpoint, but also, uh, having a family that works.” -Legal

“I tell the client, you’re the advocate, you’re the one that needs to go in there and tell them. I can’t...I’m not gonna take over that role for you. So and that’s been my whole self-sufficiency process … you’ve gotta communicate that to the doctor.” - Legal

“But you could always come back, you know. I’d rather it that way...So, they let you know they’re there. I call it like a partnership. It’s kind of, you know, a true trusted partner.” -Patient/client

“‘Cause the great thing about these community people, and uh, these caseworkers is, you can call them, and talk to them, you know, tell ‘em what you’re going through, and that, that they’re, they’re kinda your buffer to hear, you know, what’s going on in your life. You know, when you come in for the appointment, you talk about anything. It’s very confidential, and you get to open up, and say, ‘Look, you know, I’ve, I’ve got this rash, or you know, had sex, and I didn’t use a condom,’ or, you can talk about anything.” -Patient/client

“She’d follow up with me. ‘Hey, what are you doing now?’ I like that... they helped me out. I-I got what I needed, you know. But everything was there, you know, if you needed it … you feel like they care. Even the follow up, I’ll still get e-mails now. ‘[Redacted], what’s, you know, how’s everything going?’ It’s pretty cool...you never know what’s going to happen … But you could always come back.”-Patient/client