State corrections officials face enormous challenges in managing the growing number of individuals with mental illness within their facilities. The Consensus Project suggests strategies to ensure the safety and security of staff, inmates, and the community by identifying, treating, and monitoring individuals with mental illness, and by collaborating with the mental health system and community corrections agencies to prepare for the inmates' transition back into the community.

Though the Consensus Project encourages a systemic approach to improving the response to people with mental illness involved in the justice system, we recognize the need for state corrections officials to focus on the issues that most directly pertain to their roles. To that end, we recommend that they focus on the following sections: