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Issue Brief Lists Best Practices in Discharge Planning for Prisoners with Mental Illnesses

February 15, 2006—Numerous state and county corrections systems are using innovative approaches to ensure that jail and prison inmates with mental illnesses have prompt access when released to income support, medical care and other services they need to re-enter the community successfully, according to a new issue brief by the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.

Best Practices: Access to Benefits for Prisoners with Mental Illnesses lists strategies that are making a critical difference for inmates and the communities into which they are released in states as diverse as New York, Oregon, Arizona, Wisconsin, Ohio, Louisiana and California, among others. Contact information in each state is provided.

The types of approaches described include screening upon entry to a correctional setting, re-entry planning, setting up interim medical coverage, specialized post-release follow-up, and ways to simplify the complex process of obtaining federal disability benefits, Medicaid and other entitlements.

The 12-page issue brief is available for free download. It may also be purchased for $5 from the Bazelon Center’s online bookstore.