How the AZ Blue Health Choice Medicaid Team Helps People Get Home Safely
When someone is released from custody in a rural community, getting home can be its own challenge. Navajo County covers about 10,000 square miles of mostly rural land &ndash; roughly the size of the state of Massachusetts. Many people leave the jail with no money, no ride, and nowhere safe to go. 
And during Mental Health Awareness Month, it&rsquo;s important to recognize how moments like these can shape a person&rsquo;s emotional stability. A safe way home isn&rsquo;t just a logistical need &ndash; it&rsquo;s a mental health intervention, helping people avoid crisis, isolation, and the desperation that can lead to reoffending. 
With support from the AZ Blue Health Choice Medicaid Team, the Navajo County Sheriff's Office (NCSO) Reentry Services program received funding to change that. 
Key Takeaways:
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
 <li>AZ Blue Health Choice is providing a $5,000 community reinvestment to support transportation assistance for individuals released from custody in Navajo County.</li>
 <li>36 people received bus or taxi assistance, and 70 local transit passes were used between May 2025 and March 2026.</li>
 <li>92% of people booked in Navajo County are released back into the community, often without a way to get home, which increases the risk of reoffending out of desperation rather than intent.</li>
</ul>
<h5>About the Program</h5>
The NCSO Reentry Services Transportation Assistance Program helps people leaving custody get safely back to their families, homes, or support systems. For some, that means a local bus pass. For others, it&rsquo;s a Greyhound ticket across the country, a taxi, or a short motel stay while travel is arranged. 
The program covers a wide range of needs, including immediate shelter, transportation, and connection to community resources. 
<h5>Real Stories From the Program</h5>
A Veteran, far from home
He had served his country. Now he was hitchhiking across the desert, trying to get from California back to Tulsa, Oklahoma. When his money ran out in Holbrook, he made a desperate choice &mdash; he shoplifted and was arrested.
When he told NCSO staff he had no way home, they didn't just process him through the system. They picked up the phone. They confirmed he had family waiting for him in Tulsa. They worked with the court so he could appear for his hearing remotely. They bought him a Greyhound ticket. Holbrook Police even tracked down his belongings so he wouldn't leave with nothing.
He boarded that bus a Veteran on his way home &mdash; grateful, and reminded that people still cared.
An 18-year-old with nowhere to turn
She had flown alone from Atlanta to Arizona, just hoping to see her mom and check on her younger siblings. Instead, after an argument, her mom pulled over on the side of the highway and pulled her out of the car. No purse, no wallet, no way to call anyone.
So, she walked. Until she reached the Sheriff's Office.
Her grandparents, back in Atlanta, scraped together enough for a plane ticket home, but that was everything they had. The program filled in the rest: three nights in a motel, sack lunches from the jail to keep her fed, and a bus to Sky Harbor Airport so she could finally fly home.
Before she left, she did something brave. She filed a report about what she had witnessed during her visit, raising concerns about her younger siblings' living conditions. That report opened an investigation that may have changed the course of those kids' lives.
She came to Arizona to check on her family. She left having protected them.
In the words of Lieutenant Charlie Perkins
&ldquo;Thanks to the support of AZ Blue Health Choice, these funds help ensure the safety of justice involved individuals by helping them reach a secure place with resources and support, and they strengthen community safety by reducing the likelihood that people who feel trapped reoffend out of desperation.&rdquo;
<h5>The Impact by the Numbers</h5>
Between May 2025 and March 2026, through AZ Blue Health Choice funding: 
<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
 <li>$4,270.82 of the $5,000 was used to provide 70 local transit passes, Greyhound or taxi assistance for 36 individuals, and a three-night motel stay.</li>
 <li>36 people received transportation assistance, including 23 men and 13 women, ranging in age from 18 to 78. </li>
 <li>8 individuals had significant mobility challenges, including wheelchair use, oxygen tanks, walking boots, and Alzheimer&rsquo;s or dementia, requiring extra support both in custody and after release. </li>
</ul>
Small acts of support, big community impact
The NCSO Reentry Transportation program is one example of how AZ Blue Health Choice is making a difference in Arizona communities, often forgotten due to their rural location. Programs like this one help break the cycle, giving hope and support. 
Learn more on <a href="https://www.azblue.com/about-us/az-blue-in-action">AZ Blue in Action</a>.

AZ Blue’s Medicaid Team Helps People Get Home Safely: A Look at NCSO Reentry Transportation

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