The overdose crisis is claiming lives across the United States, but it reaches new depths of despair in the criminal justice system. Overdose is the leading cause of death among people returning to their communities after being in jail or prison. Providing addiction treatment in these settings could change that.
CDC provides guidance for correctional and detention facilities and other groups that support persons who are incarcerated or detained.
The Small & Rural Law Enforcement Executives Association (SRLEEA) is the only 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated solely to supporting and promoting law enforcement executives and agencies that serve small, rural & tribal communities across America. SRLEEA will only focus on the concerns and needs of small, rural & tribal agencies so we strongly encourage you to maintain your membership and relations with your state association and any other specific law enforcement associations you may belong, including the large national associations like the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Native American Law Enforcement Association or the National Sheriffs Association. They all offer a level of support and resources that could benefit you and your agency. Together we are all stronger.
Individuals entering jails and other correctional settings are more likely to have a chronic health condition or infectious disease, resulting in an increased risk to their physical health and well-being while incarcerated. A close look at statistics from local jails demonstrates that, far from being a safe haven from these converging crises, a failure to prioritize implementation of adequate policies and protocols addressing these issues in many local jails are fueling these crises for the individuals inside and everyone in our communities
The overrepresentation of individuals with mental illness in the criminal/legal system is well documented. While professional associations urge diversion towards treatment, little is known about the practices these institutions use to identify this population. One understudied space in the criminal/legal continuum is jails. This exploratory study compares two types of mental health identification at jail booking to assess jail- and community-based service outcomes by identification type (N = 2956): (a) staff observation and (b) a standardized screening instrument. Individuals identified through staff observation were significantly more likely to receive jail- and community-based services, even though current symptomology and substance misuse were both significantly higher for individuals identified only by the screening instrument. These findings point to the importance of jails in providing stabilizing services during incarceration, but further, show the impact that identification practices have on individuals as they transition to the community. Community context showed varied rates of jail staff observations of mental illness, showing greater risks for individuals in rural communities. Implications include a need for system-level changes by instituting evidence-based identification practices in jails, and improving professional collaboration practices between mental health and criminal/legal practitioners as individuals enter and exit jails.
Carolyn Sufrin MD, PhD, discusses recent research on pregnancy frequencies and outcomes among women in US state and federal prisons. This new data is leading policy changes to address the health and well-being of incarcerated women who are pregnant, and the children born to them.
The United States has the second highest rate of incarcerating women internationally, second only to Thailand. In recent decades, there has been a dramatic increase in the U.S. correctional population, and women are a rapidly growing segment of this population. In the United States, 64.6 women per 100,000 are incarcerated, with the highest rate of 142 per 100,000 occurring in Oklahoma.4 Most women who are incarcerated are within their reproductive years, and many women are pregnant at reception.
To document the health-related experiences and needs of jail detainees who self-identified as transgender women.
Like most other individuals, prisoners sometimes need medical attention for ailments, injuries and diseases. However, there appears to be a misconception about prisoners’ medical rights among physicians, medical administrators, prison and jail staff, and law enforcement officials. This article will review some of the medical rights and court rulings that are pertinent to prisoners, including issues such as medical decision-making, medical information privacy, force-feeding and forcible medical procedures.
My decision was appealed by defendants to the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. The court of appeals affirmed my conclusion that the plaintiffs’ Eighth Amendment rights had been violated “in the areas of shelter, sanitation, food, safety, and medical care,” and that plaintiffs’ constitutional rights of access to the courts had been violated as well. Ramos v. Lamm, 639 *1062 F.2d 559, 586 (10th Cir. 1980). In addition, the court of appeals sustained the ruling holding invalid certain restrictions on inmate correspondence, but overturned my holding that certain visitation regulations were unconstitutional. Id. The court of appeals vacated “the provisions of the district court’s remedial order on motility, classification and idleness.” Id. Specifically, the court of appeals concluded that “the present record and the findings on the subjects do not warrant the court’s broad remedial orders” and did not establish an independent violation of the Eighth Amendment. Id. at 567.