IN SEARCH OF THE MISSING LINKAGES - CONTINUITY OF CARE IN US JAILS

Persons with symptoms of acute mental illnesses present problems for j ail management. Jails have a constitutional duty to provide psychiatri c services to all persons in need of such care. However, mental health resources are frequently insufficient to meet the many needs of perso ns with mental illnesses in jails, and are often inaccessible to those released to the community. This study focuses on the experiences of a cohort of detainees (n = 379) with mental illnesses who have been inc arcerated in seven U.S. jails. Data gathered include criminal and demo graphic characteristics, mental health services received by the detain ees in jail, discharge planning activities by jail staff, and communit y-based outcomes after release. This is primarily a descriptive study depicting typical experiences and processes related to detainees with mental illnesses. The goal is to provide information to support more d etailed studies on the effectiveness of mental health-criminal justice linkages. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.