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conferenceseries
.com
Volume 19, Issue 2 (Suppl)
Int J Emerg Ment Health, an open access journal
ISSN: 1522-4821
Mental Health 2017
June 21-23, 2017
Mental Health and Human Resilience
June 21-23, 2017 London, UK
3
rd
International Conference on
Improving outcomes for criminal offenders with serious mental illness
Lorena Fulton
Ohio State University, USA
R
ecidivism among repeat criminal offenders with serious mental illness is higher than recidivism among non-impaired
offenders. Offenders with mental illness, who are released from jail are homeless and utilize publically funded human services,
cost communities in terms of crime victimization, or become a burden to taxpayers as indigent patients in medical or psychiatric
hospitals. These ongoing problems may be mitigated with effective program and treatment coordination during the incarceration and
after release, because it will increase emotional stability and decrease psychiatric symptoms during the admission and upon release.
Outpatient service adherence and formal community supervision are positive factors in reducing re-incarceration for inmates with
serious mental illness. The lack of coordination between mental health services and the judicial system and inadequate continued
care between incarceration and community settings places communities at risk of crime and offenders at risk of continuing to cycle
through the system. Procedure for improving outcomes in the community for offenders with serious mental illness must involve
both interagency collaboration and advocacy. Ideally, a small group of stakeholders can come together to create a plan that addresses
barriers at different system levels. Sometimes advocacy associated with reducing stigma and educating stakeholders is the first step.
For other communities, the first step is to determine the conduits for collaboration between agencies. This process requires both a
micro and a macro intervention; our efforts to improve collaboration and advocacy must address the system of care simultaneous to
addressing the needs of individual persons.
Biography
Lorena Fulton has been advocating for improved access to care and quality care for offenders with serious mental illness since 2007. She has served as a Member
of the Prisoner Review Team and collaborated with professionals within the justice and mental health service systems and eventually worked as part of a team that
formed the County’s Mental Health Court.
Fulton1@ohio.eduLorena Fulton, Int J Emerg Ment Health 2017, 19:2(Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/1522-4821-C1-008