Overview of mental health services provided by state adult correctional facilities: United States, 1988.

Abstract

State-by-State data concerning the administrative auspices, volume of use, and sources of funding and expenditures for mental health services in adult correctional facilities are reported for 1988 from the first national survey of prison mental health services conducted by the Center for Mental Health Services. In all States reporting, a total of 11,546 State prison inmates--about 25 per 1,000--were receiving 24-hour psychiatric inpatient or residential treatment care for a psychiatric disorder on September 30, 1988. During the month of September 1988, nearly 10 percent of State prison inmates (95.6 per thousand) received some form of mental health counseling or psychotherapy from a physician, nurse, psychologist, or social worker; about 5 percent (49.7 per thousand inmates) received monitoring or evaluation of a psychotropic medications regimen; and about 4 percent (41.7 per thousand inmates) received psychiatric assessment or psychological testing to determine their mental health or emotional status. In the majority of States, 24-hour mental health care was provided in a mix of psychiatric and prison hospital settings, both on and off prison grounds, through interagency agreements, or through a mix of interagency and contractual arrangements. Individual State figures vary widely on these characteristics, as well as on length of stay for 24-hour hospital and residential treatment care, both within and among auspice types.