NCJ Number
112526
Journal
Journal of Prison and Jail Health Volume: 7 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring/Summer 1988) Pages: 15-26
Date Published
1988
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Mental Health Programs have been developed in three County Jails in northern New Jersey, and have been running successfully for 7 years.
Abstract
Jail staff, community mental health, and State hospital staff form teams that meet weekly. They offer rapid mental health interventions, support services (such as linkages with families, lawyers, and probation), and coordination with the medical services. There have been positive results in a number of areas: inmates are seen and attended to quickly, acute psychotic reactions are treated, fewer are sent out to local hospitals for evaluation, the climate is more calm, and orderly management of the jail is facilitated. Better coordination of mental health care, medical care, and social services has occurred. (Author abstract)