NCJ Number
166565
Journal
Jail Suicide/Mental Health Update Volume: 6 Issue: 4 Dated: (Summer 1996) Pages: 6-8
Date Published
1996
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This survey of jail suicide prevention standards found that 32 States currently have such standards, with 24 mandatory and eight voluntary suicide prevention programs.
Abstract
Of the remaining States, five (Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, and Rhode Island) operate an integrated jail and prison system and therefore have not promulgated jail suicide prevention standards. The last 13 States (Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming) have no jail suicide prevention standards. Jail standards are typically administered by State correctional departments, although a few States use other State agencies or private entities. To measure compliance, 29 States require regular jail inspections. Of 11 States with jail standards requiring a suicide prevention policy, only Texas contains a provision for addressing all critical suicide prevention components. Jail standards in Maine, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia, and Wisconsin require that policies contain some but not all critical suicide prevention components. Only 11 of the 32 States with jail suicide prevention standards specify suicide prevention training in staff training curriculums, 14 require suicide risk inquiry during the intake screening process, 10 require provisions for housing potentially suicidal inmates, four require provisions for continuous observation as the highest level of supervision for potentially suicidal inmates, 11 require provisions for intervention following the discovery of a suicide attempt, and three require provisions for administrative review following an inmate suicide. The survey demonstrates that, with a few notable exceptions, most State standards for jail suicide prevention do not follow guidelines promulgated by the American Correctional Association and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care. 2 reference notes and 1 table