People with Mental Health Conditions in Corrections

This is a presentation made during NIC's Virtual Conference in 2015. The authors discuss the treatment program they developed for inmates with severe mental illness (SMI) at a federal correctional institution.

This policy forum brought together a panel of experts to discuss their research, policy and clinical expertise to shed light on the link between mental illness and violence.

This webinar for mental health court curriculum state trainers discusses strategies to utilize trauma-informed court approaches in mental health courts.

The webisode explores the changing role of law enforcement in addressing youth and young adults with a mental illness.

The purpose of this blog/article is to share international good design principles and knowledge from research studies that can help to significantly improve the living conditions of mentally ill inmates.

For jurisdictions implementing behavioral health-criminal justice programs to help minimize justice involvement among people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders, the ongoing costs can present challenges to long-term operation. This brief outlines key strategies and tips to financially sustaining such programs so that they are built for longevity. Photo by Anna Earl on Unsplash.

The implementation science checklist series is intended for professionals who direct and oversee programming in the fields of corrections, community corrections, behavioral health, and social service agencies. The collection of eight checklists will help you assess your agency’s evidence-based practice implementation efforts and use a research-based approach to ensure that investments in evidence-based practices yield desired outcomes.

A disproportionate number of individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) become involved in the criminal justice system and ultimately fall under some form of correctional control. Although some jurisdictions are making great strides with respect to how the criminal justice system deals with individuals with SMI, significant challenges and opportunities for improved outcomes remain.

Purpose and Scope

The guide and bench card were informed by a May 2017 convening of judges, psychiatrists, people who have behavioral health needs and have been in the justice system, and family members who came together to discuss behavioral health care resources and decision making around conditions of release and sentencing

This issue paper presents three case studies showing how predictive analytics is being used by hybrid health and criminal justice systems.

In this Review, we present clinical, research, and policy recommendations to improve mental health care in prisons. National attempts to meet these recommendations should be annually surveyed.

SAMHSA publications and related resources on mental and substance use disorders. Topics include Evidence-based and Best Practices, and Co-occurring Disorders.

Learn about the most common mental and substance use disorders and how SAMHSA works to reduce their impact on America’s communities.

In a 302-page opinion, a federal judge in Montgomery condemned the dire conditions faced by prisoners with mental illnesses in Alabama's prisons.

Public Citizen and the Treatment Advocacy Center are releasing a comprehensive national survey that captures the perspectives of county jail staff about inmates with serious mental illnesses.

The goal of this publication is to provide rural county leaders with ideas and strategies for addressing these challenges by providing examples of counties that have successfully done so or are making progress.

Reports the findings of a mathematical model built to project whether relatively modest selected changes to the status quo could break this logjam. Data from five sample states were used to model the effect of three specific changes. Eight recommendations for state and federal lawmakers are proposed in response to the findings.

Provides behavioral health, correctional, and community stakeholders with examples of the implementation of successful strategies for transitioning people with mental or substance use disorders from institutional correctional settings into the community. Highlights prevalence of mental and substance use disorders in correctional settings.

Homelessness is a longstanding problem in California, as it is in much of the U.S. While homelessness has many root causes, including an overall lack of affordable housing and lack of coordination between social service systems, incarceration is a major risk factor. This report highlights 5 areas where people with behavioral health needs leaving California prisons and jails experience the greatest challenges in accessing housing. It also provides 10 complementary recommendations for actions that state, county, and local leaders can take to reduce homelessness among this population.

This is the Final Summary of the findings and methodology of a component of a study that examined the impact on prisoners and corrections officers (COs) receiving and managing restrictive housing (RH) in America’s jails and prisons.

After a review of the history of the use of restricted housing units (RHUs) for mentally ill inmates, with attention to the Allegheny County Jail (Pittsburgh, PA), this article discusses the features of alternative housing specifically for inmates diagnosed with mental illness ( American Jail May/June 2017, pages 13-16).

This review examines the BOP’s use of RHUs for inmates with mental illness, including trends in the use of restrictive housing and the screening, treatment, and monitoring of inmates with mental illness who are housed in RHUs.

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People with co-occurring mental illnesses and substance use disorders—also known simply as co-occurring disorders—have complex needs that require integrated responses across jails and behavioral health systems. However, staff often do not know how many people with co-occurring disorders reside in the jail or do not know how to respond when they recognize the symptoms.

• A brief review of the origins, background and framework of the Massachusetts Community Justice Project and workshop;
• A Sequential Intercept Map as developed by the group during the workshop;
• A summary of the information gathered at the workshop;
• A list of best practices and resources to help the partners in the Lawrence region action plan and achieve their goals

AOT is a court order that requires certain persons with serious mental illness to stay in mandated and monitored treatment as a condition for living in the community. AOT reduces violence, arrest, hospitalization and incarceration of persons with serious mental illness in the 70% range and
thereby saves taxpayers 50% of the cost of care.

The GAINS Center focuses on expanding access to services for people with mental and/or substance use disorders who come into contact with the justice system.

In this paper commissioned by the National Institute of Justice, authors reviewed the available evidence on the impact of institutional programming on pre- and post-release outcomes, prison misconduct, recidivism, post-release employment, and costs avoided through the prevention of crime.