NCJ Number
179291
Date Published
February 1999
Length
59 pages
Annotation
This document discusses what is known about the mentally ill in California county jails and state prisons, gives examples of what local correctional institutions are doing to identify and provide medical care to the mentally ill, and offers selected policy options.
Abstract
The report’s key findings include: (1) An estimated 10-15 percent of offenders who enter the local criminal justice system are mentally ill; (2) Local correctional systems do not engage in long-range strategic planning on how to best identify and serve mentally ill offenders at the local level; (3) No county jail facilities have licensed correctional treatment beds for the mentally ill; (4) There are insufficient aftercare treatment and services for mentally ill offenders leaving the local and state criminal justice system, and a severe lack of coordination among service providers; and (5) There is some innovative collaboration between community mental health providers and local law enforcement to identify and treat mentally ill people and to keep them out of the criminal justice system. Figures, appendixes, notes