Our History

In June of 2014, the Formerly Incarcerated Transitions (FIT) clinic was founded in partnership with Tulane Medical School and Voice of the Experienced (VOTE) to provide medical care to those transitioning out of incarceration. The FIT Clinic officially opened in May of 2015 as the first transitional care clinic for formerly incarcerated people (FIP) in Louisiana. They began identifying needs of FIP returning home, and started holding bi-monthly peer support groups for FIP

In 2015, Thad Tatum was interning with the Positive Living Treatment  Center where he met Dr. Anjali Niyogi, from the FIT Clinic, who asked  him to attend one of their meetings. Thad agreed to attend. When he got  there, there were just two or three guys talking. From there, Thad  started recruiting additional members to attend the group, and  attendance began growing. About six months later, Thad was introduced to  a Tulane Medical student, who further assisted him with the group.  Meetings began taking place at the Positive Living Treatment Center and at Corpus Christi Community Center, on the second and fourth Tuesday of  each month.

Formerly Incarcerated Peer Support (FIPS) Group has had a steady increase in attendance from its beginning. In 2019, FIPS Group implemented a more formal curriculum, focusing on a specific topic at each meeting. 

In response to COVID-19 and to protect members and their loved ones, FIPS Group held its meetings virtually for almost two years. In-person meetings resumed in XXMONTH YEARXX at a new location: VOTE's headquarters on Washington Avenue in New Orleans. 

Our goal is to expand the FIPS Group throughout Louisiana, and eventually nationwide. We hope to shed light on Post Incarceration Syndrome (PICS) and its need to be addressed.