Diversion from Incarceration and Reentry > Policy Documents

Bazelon Center Publications on Re-Entry Assistance (Benefits) 

• Criminal Justice Reform: Lessons from the Deinstitutionalization Movement (November 2011)
• Asking Why: Reasserting the Role of Community Mental Health (2011)
• Finding the Key to Successful Transition from Jail or Prison to the Community (updated 2009)
• Lifelines: Linking to Federal Benefits for People Exiting Corrections, a blueprint (2009)
• Arrested? What Happens to Your Benefits if You Go to Jail or Prison? A booklet for inmates and their advocates and family members (updated 2007)
• Creating New Options: Manual and Power Point for training corrections administrators and staff on access to federal benefits for people with mental illnesses leaving jail or prison (2008)
• Best Practices: Access to Benefits for Prisoners with Mental Illnesses, issue brief
• Building Bridges: An Act to Reduce Recidivism by Improving Access to Benefits for Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities upon Release from Incarceration, model law (2003)
• The Role of Mental Health Courts in System Reform (2003)

Fact Sheets

• Issues to Consider When Representing a Client with a Mental Illness
• Federal Benefits for Individuals with Serious Mental Illnesses Who Have Been Incarcerated
• The Effect of Incarceration on Medicaid Benefits for People with Mental Illnesses (5/09)

Federal Government 

• HUD Guidance to PHA directors on ex-offenders and admission to public housing or eligibility for Housing Choice Vouchers (6/17/2011)
• CCD Comments on Proposed Rule Regarding Hospital and Outpatient Care for Veterans Released from Incarceration to Transitional Housing (7/12/2010)

Press Releases and Media

• New Publication Maps Approach to Successful Re-Entry for Jail/Prison Inmates with Mental Illnesses (10/30/09)
• New Study Shows Alarming Rates of Serious Mental Illnesses Among Inmates, Particularly Women, in Jail(6/1/09)
• Half of U.S. Jail and Prison Inmates Have Mental Health Problems, New Study Finds (9/6/06)
• Online Handbook Addresses Criminalization of People with Mental Illnesses (1/12/06)
• Lawmakers Pass Mental Health / Criminal Justice Bill (10/12/04)
• Thousands of Children with Mental Illness Warehoused in Juvenile Detention Centers Awaiting Mental Health Services (7/7/04)
• Bazelon Center Statement on the President’s Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative (1/21/04)
• Lack of Services Means More Jail Time for NY Parolees with Serious Mental Illnesses; Lawsuit Filed in Federal Court (10/21/03)
• Lawsuit Alleges Civil Rights Violations in Cook County Jail; Complaint Says Inmates with Mental Illnesses Face Discrimination, Lack Services (8/12/03)

And see other resources.