The Mentally Ill in Jail

As U.S. jail populations continue to burgeon, more and more pressure is being placed on mental health services to help manage potentially explosive situations. When correctional administrators, criminal justice planners and consultants, mental health clinicians, and social science researchers seek guidance, they find little in the literature. This book fills that void by combining solid empirical data with a practical "nuts and bolts"' approach drawn from careful scrutiny of 43 jail mental health programs throughout the U.S. Based on first-hand observations and interviews with jail correctional and mental health staff, it offers both general guidelines and specific strategies for setting up appropriate mental health programs.