One of the most dramatic public policy shifts (some refer to it as a "social experiment") during the last three decades in the United States has been the unprecedented increase in the number of people who are incarcerated.  The national prison population grew by nearly six-fold between 1970 and 2000 and the combined prison and jail population in 2000 was 1.9 million.[1]  Approximately 10 million people are booked into U.S. jails each year.[2]

The extraordinary growth of prison and jail systems has presented enormous challenges to corrections administrators.  Of these challenges, few, if any, are more formidable than operating a comprehensive mental health service delivery system for inmates.  Increasing budgetary pressures on corrections systems make this challenge especially daunting.  Estimates regarding the number of people with mental illness in prison or jail vary.  The US Department of Justice reported in 1999 that about 16 percent have a mental illness.[3]

Like the policy statements in the preceding chapters, the following policy statements do not suggest that people with mental illness should not be held accountable for their behavior.  Indeed, given the crime they committed, it is appropriate and necessary for some people with mental illness to be incarcerated.

The policy statements in this chapter adhere to the principle that identifying inmates with mental illness, treating them, and preparing them for release is good corrections policy.  And it is the right thing to do.  It improves corrections administrators' ability to protect people with mental illness while they are incarcerated, to maintain calm environments in the facilities, and to promote staff safety.  Perhaps most importantly, the vast majority of people in prison or jail will ultimately re-enter the community.  Screening inmates for mental illness, delivering effective services, providing appropriate housing, and developing a comprehensive treatment plan improve the likelihood that an inmate with mental illness will return to the community (and to his or her loved ones) healthy and safely.

The policy statements in this chapter go beyond what should happen when a person with mental illness is incarcerated.  They also address the role of community corrections officials in monitoring and assisting people with mental illness who are released from prison or jail under some form of supervision.  Furthermore, they review the pivotal role of the mental health system in maintaining the person on a path toward recovery once the person is released.