No abstract

ObjectiveTo advance public health support for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s smoke-free rule, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collaborated with the Georgia Institute of Technology to develop a geospatial mapping tool. The objective was to create a tool state and local public health agencies could use to tailor smoke-free educational materials and cessation interventions for specific public housing development resident populations.ResultsThe resulting “Extinguish Tool” includes an interactive map of U.S. public housing developments (PHDs) and healthcare facilities that provides detailed information on individual PHDs, their proximity to existing healthcare facilities, and the demographic characteristics of residents. The tool also estimates the number of PHD residents who smoke cigarettes and calculates crude estimates of the potential economic benefits of providing cessation interventions to these residents. The geospatial mapping tool project serves as an example of a collaborative and innovative public health approach to protecting the health and well-being of the nation’s two million public housing residents, including 760,000 children, from the harms of tobacco smoking and secondhand smoke exposure in the places where they live, play, and gather.

Objectives: We collected the jail housing unit histories and calculated the costs of incarcerating mentally ill misdemeanor offenders who were arrested in DeKalb County, Georgia in 2012 and represented by the Public Defender's Office. Methods:We obtained records from the Sheriff's and Public Defender's Offices for the 2012 cohort. Days of detainment in and movement among jail housing and forensic hospital units were determined for those with moderate and severe illness. The costs of incarcerating offenders with mental illness, relative to those without, were calculated.Results: Offenders with severe illness spent an average of 64 days (SD=129) in jail compared to 39 days (SD=65) for those with moderate illness (p<0.05). DeKalb County spent 26 times more per offender for those with severe illness compared to those with none, 89% of which was spent on specialized mental health units. Conclusions:Mentally ill offenders spend a disproportionate amount of time in jail relative to those with no mental illness. Duration and cost vary with degree of illness. Diverting these offenders, particularly severe cases, into treatment could improve health outcomes and reduce criminal justice costs.