MOBILE CONSULTATION - CROSSING CORRECTIONAL BOUNDARIES TO COPE WITH DISTURBED OFFENDERS

Authors David Lovell and Lorna A. Rhodes report on a 1-year pilot proj ect in the State of Washington Department of Corrections that used int erdisciplinary, cross-institutional teams of prison staff members to c onsult on the complex problems posed by disturbed inmates. They descri be the development of the mobile consultation program, its successes, and the obstacles it encountered and offer recommendations for institu ting such programs. According to the authors, the experiment showed th at interdisciplinary teams of front-line employees can work creatively together to address the fundamental challenges of their work.