NCJ Number
190464
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 63 Issue: 5 Dated: August 2001 Pages: 72-74
Date Published
August 2001
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article examined the influence of the population of mentally ill offenders on corrections facility design.
Abstract
The need to provide inmate mental health services grew more pressing during the 1990's as local jails and State and Federal correctional systems saw a huge influx of mentally ill offenders. Colorado has built a facility to house the increasing numbers of inmates with severe mental illnesses. The Colorado unit provides a continuum of care for inmates with changing needs levels. It also has a dual diagnosis program that treats offenders suffering from mental illness and substance abuse. When modifications are complete, it will provide a supportive environmental setting for inmates who require a brief period of monitoring and psychiatric consultation prior to returning to the general population, as well as patients who continue to present symptoms of major mental illnesses and require long-term management and treatment. It will also include a transitional program to prepare inmates to return to the general population. The program emphasizes development of individualized transition plans and access to community service agencies. The completed facility will include new food services and medical operations areas as well as renovated spaces for inmate work and training programs.