Open AccessPilot Mental Health Offender Program Improves Participant Outcomes and Lowers Costs in a Large Urban County
Author(s) -
Colleen Bell,
Mohsin Raza,
D. P. Kilcrease,
Barbara L. Gracious
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
hca healthcare journal of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2690-3830
pISSN - 2689-0216
DOI - 10.36518/2689-0216.1423
Subject(s) - mental health , mental illness , criminal justice , mass incarceration , misdemeanor , psychiatry , psychology , nursing , medicine , criminology
Mass incarceration, particularly of the mentally ill, continues to pervade our criminal justice system. Jails in many areas have become the largest mental health facilities, especially in large urban communities, despite increasing societal recognition that those with mental illness are not best served behind bars. Misdemeanors are an often-overlooked contributor to mass incarceration, and may be preventable for those with chronic severe mental illness.