ABSTRACT
The principal objective of this chapter is to report on the problems of implementing a state-funded, county-implemented, short-term intervention program for mentally ill offenders reentering the community from a large jail. The purpose of the program was to reduce jail returns and jail days subsequent to mental health program intervention, as well as to reduce the need for psychiatric in-patient services. The findings for enhanced-treatment (experimental) subjects showed that they did not manifest significant reductions in returns to jail or jail days in comparison to randomly selected treatment-as-usual (control) subjects during 1 year after their release from the jail. Significant reductions in the cost of caring for these individuals were not realized. We provide a brief literature review, a description of the program and its goals, the research methodology used, and findings from the experimental-control group study for male participants. This is followed by a presentation of some of the reasons the program was not successful, with some lessons learned.
