Citation

Steadman HJ. Psychiatr. Serv. 2016; 67(8): 821.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, American Psychiatric Association)

DOI

10.1176/appi.ps.670803

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

It is well known that rates of incarceration of persons with mental illness are disproportionately high across the United States. The two studies in this issue by Morrissey and colleagues, which examined expedited Medicaid enrollment and service use by persons leaving prisons and jails, underscore the issue. What is particularly frustrating about this state of affairs is that neither the issues nor the solutions are new. We have known a lot about how to address these issues for some time. More than 30 years ago, in 1985, the National Coalition for Jail Reform noted that "mentally ill people often end up in jail because there is no other place for them in our communities. . . . For society, jail becomes the place of last resort when there is no other place provided for mentally ill people."

Language: en