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Treatment program leads to better outcomes among prisoners with serious mental illness

Outpatient mental health treatment may lead to better outcomes among prisoners with serious mental illness, including longer time to criminal recidivism and increased time outside of prison, according to a poster presented at the U.S. Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress.

“Criminal recidivism has become a serious issue which has led to an overflow of inmates in our jails and prisons, resulting in significant costs. The presence of mental health and substance use disorders is shockingly high in those persons incarcerated. Pre- and postbooking programs have evolved with the intent to divert and reduce this revolving door cycle presently observed in this population,” Lynn A. Mainolfi, DNP, PMHNP-BC, of the Warner Center in Butler, Pennsylvania, and colleagues wrote in their poster. “The need for increased knowledge as to what factors may be associated with recidivism are crucial towards the development of methods to reduce these rates.”

To examine the impact outpatient mental health treatment has on rates of recidivism among individuals with serious mental illness, researchers reviewed data from records for former inmates of the Butler County Prison with a diagnosed serious mental illness, aged 18 to 75 years.

Researchers found that increased levels of treatment was associated with an overall prolonged time to criminal recidivism, total time spent in prison and arrests and violations.

For every 10 mental health visits received, there was a decrease in time spent in prison and an increased time to recidivism by approximately 1 month.

Time spent in prison increased by 119 days for individuals with serious mental illness, according to researchers. However, those who participated in the Butler County Mental Health Reentry Program spent an average 45 more days outside of prison compared with those with serious mental illness who did not participate in the program.

Individuals who participated in the Butler County Mental Health Reentry Program had a greater number of days to recidivism of approximately 3 weeks.

Program participants were more likely to receive probation and/or parole (88%) than those not involved with the program (68%).

“The data attained from this study may better improve our understanding of the importance of mental health services during and postincarceration and its relationship with rates of recidivism, time spent in jail, and number of violations and rearrests. In turn, provide both the health care and criminal justice system with valuable findings which may lead to significant reductions in criminalization and expanded treatment of persons with serious mental illness,” the researchers concluded. – by Amanda Oldt

Reference:

Mainolfi LA, et al. The impact of treatment intensity in persons with serious mental illness and with and without substance use disorder on criminal recidivism. Presented at: U.S. Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress; Sept. 10-13, 2015; San Diego.

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