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Release Planning and the Distinctions for Mentally Ill Offenders Returning to the Community From Jails Versus Prisons

NCJ Number
189023
Journal
American Jails Volume: 14 Issue: 5 Dated: November/December 2000 Pages: 9-12
Author(s)
Stephanie W. Hartwell Ph.D.; Karin Orr
Date Published
2000
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This paper explores some of the differences found among a population of mentally ill offenders in Massachusetts sentenced to county or State facilities.
Abstract
It presents data collected from a model program that facilitates the transition of mentally ill inmates back into the community and explores the most effective strategies for those returning from prison versus those returning from jails or county facilities. In an attempt to reduce recidivism among the mentally ill inmate population, the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health established the Forensic Transition Team program in 1998; this is a statewide service to ease the community reintegration of mentally ill offenders upon release from incarceration. The program provides transitional care that begins during incarceration and attends to the specific vulnerabilities of the mentally ill offender. Data from this program suggest that length of sentence is an important factor when assisting mentally ill offenders to reintegrate into the community. In the case of the Massachusetts Forensic Transition Team, effective planning from prison requires a focus on compiling the client profile and available resources that will require new information on the client; however, this planning is aided by the fact that, due to longer sentences and greater opportunities for assessment, referrals from the prison may be more inclusive of information about personality disorder or patterns of interpersonal functioning. Such information becomes vital if, as the data suggest, more State inmates than county inmates have their first psychiatric breakdown while incarcerated. Instead of only a "client centered" focus for the population returning from jails, the Massachusetts Forensic Transition Team supplements the approach with a "community systems" orientation. While engaging the inmates on the benefits of continuing care, the staff brokers information about existing services and provides linkage services. 19 references