Nutrition Education: An Overlooked Reentry Tool for Social Workers

Nutrition education plays a critical, yet often invisible, role in successful reentry for individuals leaving the prison system. Formerly incarcerated populations experience high rates of chronic disease, food insecurity, and mental health challenges, yet structured nutrition support is rarely included in reentry programming. For social workers involved in corrections, reentry, housing, and community-based services, nutrition represents a practical but underutilized lever for improving client stability and long-term outcomes.

As reentry services expand, interdisciplinary partnerships among social workers, registered dietitians, and community health workers are gaining attention. Nutrition education supports many goals social workers already prioritize—health stability, employment readiness, self-sufficiency, and reduced recidivism—while addressing daily barriers clients face once they return to the community.

Why Nutrition Matters in Reentry Work
Each year, more than 650,000 individuals are released from US prisons. Many return to communities facing unemployment, housing instability, and limited access to affordable, healthy food. Social workers frequently encounter clients managing chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and gastrointestinal disorders—often alongside depression, trauma, and substance use challenges.

Reentry is a critical transition period. After years of limited food choice while incarcerated, individuals suddenly must make decisions about shopping, cooking, and eating, often with minimal income or kitchen access. While reentry programs understandably focus on housing and employment, nutrition and health education are frequently overlooked despite their impact on energy, mood, medication adherence, and overall functioning.

Research suggests that health education delivered through group discussion, reading, and interactive learning can positively influence preventive decision-making and self-management behaviors.

A Case Study in Community-Based Nutrition Reentry Education
The Food Trust (TFT), a Philadelphia-based nonprofit, offers a community-driven model for integrating nutrition education into reentry services. Through its Inside Out program, TFT delivers a six-week nutrition education series alongside workforce development, including ServSafe Food Handler and Manager certifications.

According to Sandy Sherman, EdD, EdM, MS, nutrition advisor at TFT, “Those who are incarcerated and returning to their communities have a great need for improved food access and education.” Wayne Williams, TFT’s project manager of community-based programming—and formerly incarcerated himself—helps lead the program, bringing lived experience into curriculum design and delivery. Sherman and partners at Temple University are evaluating program outcomes to strengthen evidence-informed practice.

Where Social Workers Fit In
Social workers are often the first professionals to identify food insecurity, health literacy gaps, and chronic disease challenges during reentry. By collaborating with RDs and community health workers, social workers can strengthen wraparound services without adding significant burden to staff.

Nutrition education can do the following:

support chronic disease self-management;
improve mental health and daily functioning;
enhance employment readiness and workforce training outcomes; and
promote dignity, autonomy, and long-term stability.

For social workers, nutrition and interdisciplinary collaboration with RDs is a practical tool that reinforces broader goals of health equity, successful reintegration, and community well-being.

— This article was adapted from a feature by Alexandria Hardy, RDN, LDN, originally published in Today’s Dietitian, and edited for Social Work Today.