Mental Health Screening and Evaluation Within Prisons

Abstract

Current national standards and/or guidelines for correctional mental health care programs emphasize the importance of various levels of mental health screening and evaluation that should be performed by qualified personnel on all inmates as part of the admission process to a prison. The authors describe the results of a study that included data from all 50 state departments of corrections regarding prison mental health screening and evaluation models. The vast majority of states appear to have adopted some variation of the most recognized guidelines and/or standards (e.g., American Psychiatric Association, National Commission on Correctional Health Care, American Public Health Association) concerning correctional health care systems. Results are also provided concerning the use of standardized psychological tests and informed consent issues.