The challenge of developing a behavioral health surveillance system for criminal justice-involved individuals in the United States

• In Event: Contemporary Issues in Justice-Involved Persons with Mental Illness

Abstract

It is common to hear statements such as jails/prisons are the largest warehouses/providers of service for individuals living with mental health disorders. We could add substance use disorders to these claims. Statements such as these require empirical verification. To establish the prevalence of and services provided to criminal justice-involved individuals, it is necessary to establish a reliable behavioral health surveillance (monitoring) system at various points in the criminal justice system. This paper will catalog issues associated with the development of a representative surveillance system across the United States criminal justice systems. It will explore also the utilization of existing planning tools to develop and implement such a system.

Author

• Roberto Hugh Potter, University of Central Florida