People With Mental Illness in the Criminal Justice System: Answering a Cry for Help : A Practice Manual for Psychiatrists and Other Practitioners

Written by a committee of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, People
With Mental Illness in the Criminal Justice System: Answering a Cry for Help
represents the collective wisdom of leaders in community psychiatry and is the
third in a series of successful publications that have used Dear Abby letters as
source material. The letters, submitted by readers with experience with mental
illness and the criminal justice system, constitute a rich, real-world
repository for the case stories presented in this fascinating volume. Using the
experiences shared in the letters, the authors employ the Sequential Intercept
Model to present a series of chapters offering detailed recommendations for
psychiatrists, group practices, and criminal justice entities on partnering with
individuals who are at risk and their families, with the goal of improving
outcomes.

The book's many features and functions make it relevant to a
diverse audience: The Dear Abby letters on which the book's stories are based
are heartfelt and human, providing a depth of emotion and understanding that
cannot be found elsewhere, and the down-to-earth writing style and real-world
material are designed to be useful and compelling to both practitioner and
layperson. The case-based recommendations for effective interventions are very
specific and practical to promote and enhance clinical skill development. A
robust set of appendices presents information for professionals on a variety of
critically important topics, including principles for criminal justice and
community psychiatry; sequential intercept mapping; stages of engagement with
the criminal justice system; HIPAA regulations; screening and mental
status/criminal justice history; essential systems of care; and the
risk-need-responsivity model. An extensive section of criminal justice/mental
health online resources addresses areas such as law enforcement, courts,
corrections, evidence-based practices, veterans, organizations, and
miscellaneous topics, providing avenues of information and assistance for
individuals, families, and clinicians.

This simple, evidence-based guide
challenges psychiatrists to initiate changes in their clinical work; in the
operation of their agencies, programs, and teams; and in their partnerships with
local criminal justice and behavioral health providers to positively impact
people with behavioral health conditions in the criminal justice system.
Implementing the approaches described so eloquently in People With Mental
Illness in the Criminal Justice System: Answering a Cry for Help can potentially
reduce the overrepresentation of people with mental illnesses in justice
settings, provide alternatives to incarceration, and divert individuals who do
not pose a public safety risk from jail.