Mental Health: About the Project

The Issue

Individuals with mental illnesses are significantly overrepresented in corrections settings. Prevalence estimates of serious mental illness in jails are similarly high, ranging from 7 to 16 percent, or rates four times higher for men and eight times higher for women than rates found in the general population.1 Given the high rates of mental illnesses among the jail and prison populations, and their unique service needs, corrections officials should seek to engage community-based behavioral health care providers to offer pre- and post-release services to inmates with mental illnesses.

Challenges

  • Inconsistent and ineffective screening and identification of prisoners for mental health disorders
  • Narrow focus on emergency treatment needs of people who are incarcerated rather than their long-term health and public health generally
  • Compartmentalized, uncoordinated treatment of co-occurring disorders, particularly substance abuse and mental illness
  • Inadequate communication and cooperation between correctional health officials and community service providers
  • Limited capacity of existing community-based services and general reluctance of providers to serve people with criminal records
  • Delivery of services and use of medications that do not reflect the most current, evidence-based practices
  • Shortages of qualified health care professionals in prison and jail, and high cost of medications

The Response

The Justice Center, with support from a variety of federal agencies and private foundations, manages the Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project, a national effort to help local, state, and federal policymakers and criminal justice and mental health professionals improve the response to people with mental illnesses who come into contact with the criminal justice system. Click here to learn more about the Consensus Project.

Through funding support from a number of federal agencies including the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), and the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), as well as private foundations including the MacArthur Foundation, the Justice Center has developed a number of publications and tools for policymakers focusing on the needs of people with mental illnesses under corrections supervision. For more information about the Justice Center’s corrections and mental health work, please click here.

In addition, the Justice Center is working with the Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the JEHT foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to assist individuals with mental illnesses who are eligible for federal benefits connect to needed services. Click here for more information about the federal benefits project.

Contact:
Elizabeth Dodd
Research Assistant
Council of State Governments Justice Center
edodd@csg.org
Tel.: (646) 383-5749
Fax: (212) 482-2344


1 Abram, K.M. and Teplin, L.A. (1991). Co-occurring disorders among mentally ill jail detainees: Implications for Public Policy. American Psychologist, 46(10): 1,036-1,045; Abram, K.M., Teplin, L.A., and McClelland, G.M. (2003). Comorbidity of severe psychiatric disorders and substance use disorders among women in jail. American Journal of Psychiatry. 160: 1007-1010; Cox, J.F., Morschauser, P.C., Banks, S., and Stone, J.L. (2001) A five-year population study of persons involved in the mental health and local correctional systems: Implications for service planning. Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research 28(2): 177-187; Ditton, P. (1999) Mental health and treatment: Inmates and probationers. Washington DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics; Green, B.L., Miranda, J., Daroowalla, A., and Siddique, J. (2005). Trauma exposure, mental health functioning and program needs of women in jail. Crime and Delinquency. 51(1): 133-151; Hammett, T.M., Roberts, C., and Kennedy, S. (2001). Health-related issues in prisoner re-entry. Crime and Delinquency. 47(3): 390-409; Lamb, H.R. and Weinberger, L.E. (1998). Persons with severe mental illness in jails and prisons: A review. Psychiatric Services. 49: 483-492; Sabol, W.J., Minton, T.D., and Harrison, P.M. (2007). Prison and jail inmates at midyear 2006. Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin. U.S. Department of Justice Statistics, NCJ 217675; Teplin, L.A. (1990). The prevalence of severe mental disorder among male urban jail detainees: Comparison with the epidemiologic catchment area program. American Journal of Public Health. 80(6): 663-669; Teplin, L.A. (1994). Psychiatric and substance abuse disorders among male urban jail detainees. American Journal of Public Health. 84(2): 290-293.

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