This policy statement addresses transition planning for sentenced inmates with mental illness who are released from state prisons and county jails.  These releasees include inmates with mental illness who will remain under some form of supervision by the criminal justice system and inmates with mental illness who complete their sentence while in prison or jail.  (See Policy Statement 13: Intake at County / Municipal Detention Facility, for a discussion of transition planning issues unique to jail detainees.)

Comprehensive transition planning is of paramount importance - especially when the inmate will finish his or her sentence in prison and not be subject to conditions of release.  For inmates with mental illness, whose community adjustment issues are even more complex than inmates in the general population, the need for systemic discharge planning is particularly crucial.   For example, individuals with mental illness leaving prison without sufficient supplies of medication, connections to mental health and other support services, and housing are almost certain to decompensate, which in turn will likely result in behavior that constitutes a technical violation of release conditions or a new crime.

Engaging the personnel and resources of institutional corrections, community corrections, and community mental health providers in developing and implementing comprehensive transition plans for offenders with mental illness can maximize the likelihood of a safe and successful transition to the community.   Release planning, in principle, can begin upon intake.  In practice, jurisdictions initiate and engage in prerelease planning at different times prior to the release date (e.g., one year, six months), and prerelease planning intensifies as the inmate approaches the release date.

The nature and function of discharge planning for inmates vary significantly depending upon whether the individual is being released from a detention facility, a county penitentiary (following completion of a jail sentence at a county correctional institution), or a state prison. ^[1]     The extent of postrelease criminal justice supervision prescribed for the inmate will determine the extent to which a plan can or will be developed collaboratively among criminal justice and mental health agency staff, as well as the possibility of treating the discharge plan as a condition of continued release.

Recommendations:

a.

Identify transition planners in each institution and charge them with coordinating a case management process, which incorporates representatives of institutional corrections, community corrections, social service agencies, and community-based mental health providers.

b.

Involve all relevant agents and individuals who will assist in carrying out the transition plan, including family members, in its development.

c.

Take steps to ensure that the inmate's release from secure housing to the community progresses in a gradual sequence of planned steps.

d.

Develop a transition plan that includes the inmate's assignment to a community-based provider whose resources and assets are consistent with the needs and strengths of the inmate.

e.

Integrate housing support services into the transition plan and provide releasees with mental illness an arrangement for safe housing or at a minimum, shelter.

f.

Make arrangements for at least a week's supply of important medications, along with refillable prescriptions, to be provided to inmates at the point of release.

g.

Develop a process to ensure that inmates eligible for public benefits receive them immediately upon their release.

h.

Notify the victim before the offender is released from prison, consistent with the requirements of the state's law or constitution, prior to release.

i.

Monitor the inmate closely in the days approaching release and modify the discharge plan when appropriate.

j.

Provide enhanced discharge planning, including extensive coordination with the community treatment provider, to ensure continued case management for inmates with mental illness who will complete their sentence in prison.