Review the recommendations, treatments, and policy strategies used to promote Hepatitis C virus (HCV) opt-out universal HCV screening and treatment in jails.
Document Category: Screening and Assessment
Examines the causal impact of mental health needs scores on youth and adult outcomes such as suicide attempts and incarceration duration.
This article evaluates the use of the Brief Jail Mental Health Screening tool for severe mental illness among incarcerated individuals.
The Screening and Assessment Tools Chart provides a comprehensive guide and links to evidence-based screening and assessment tools you can use with your patients from adolescence to adulthood. It is organized by substance type, patient age, and administration method to help you find the right tool for your practice.
2018 NACo Annual Conference and Exposition
This report provides evidence-based practices for screening and assessment of adults in the justice system with mental illness, substance use disorders, or both. It discusses the importance of instrument selection for screening and assessment and provides detailed descriptions of recommended instruments.
The Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale (COWS) is an 11-item scale designed to be administered by a clinician. This tool can be used in both inpatient and outpatient settings to reproducibly rate common signs and symptoms of opiate withdrawal and monitor these symptoms over time. The summed score for the complete scale can be used to help clinicians determine the stage or severity of opiate withdrawal and assess the level of physical dependence on opioids. Practitioners sometimes express concern about the objectivity of the items in the COWS; however, the symptoms of opioid withdrawal have been likened to a severe influenza infection (e.g., nausea, vomiting, sweating, joint aches, agitation, tremor), and patients should not exceed the lowest score in most categories without exhibiting some observable sign or symptom of withdrawal.
In 2007, the National Institute of Corrections partnered with the Urban Institute to develop and test the Transition from Jail to Community (TJC) model for effective jail-to-community transition. The TJC model and initiative advance systems change and local reentry through collaborative, coordinated jail-community partnerships. This brief details the two-stage screening and assessment process to determine risk and need levels in the jail population. It describes the importance of screening and assessment in an evidence-based jail transition strategy, including selecting screening and assessment instruments, implementing a screening and assessment process, and integrating risk and need information into comprehensive jail intervention strategies.
The practice of prescribing in jails and prisons is often different from that in the community. Serious mental illness is common among inmates, and so are co-morbidities such as substance use, impulse-control, attention-deficit/hyperactivity, and personality disorders. Operational requirements, staffing, and the physical plant of the institution may complicate the provision of treatment according to community standards. Problems related to medication nonadherence, as well as the pursuit of medications for nonmedical reasons, are often seen in these settings and may be managed differently than they are elsewhere. Existing practice resources rarely account for these challenges. Pursuant to a recommendation by the Correctional Committee of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL), the AAPL Council in May 2015 approved the creation of a task force charged with producing a document on prescribing in correctional facilities.