Screening Offenders with Histories of Mental Illness and Violence for Supportive Housing

Abstract

This article describes a community mental health agency's process of screening supportive housing applicants with histories of violent felonies and serious mental illness. The agency adopted its corporate intranet as a tool so that geographically dispersed senior staff could participate in information gathering in order to ensure expert input in admissions decisions. This broad-based participation was designed to maintain community safety, while making the agency's residential resources available to people with mental illness and criminal histories. Considering the high recidivism rate of ex-offenders with mental illness and lack of clearly established best practices to serve them in the community, the authors believe that it is timely for housing providers to reevaluate how to better serve these individuals.

Findings of a Formative Evaluation of a Transitional Housing Program for Forensic Patients Discharged into the Community

“…Cimino and Jennings (2001) described a progressive treatment model for forensic clients discharged from the hospital; however, the interim accommodation between the hospital and community was described as a secure, residential treatment facility, rather than transitional supportive housing. Other programs have offered extensive services to individuals with mental health issues and past justice system involvement, such as mental health and substance use treatment, health care, employment, and support with the criminal justice system (Campanelli et al, 2005;Lamberti et al, 2001). However, those programs were designed for clients from a variety of referral sources and not created to solely meet the specific needs of forensic patients transitioning from the hospital to the community.…”

“…Those programs that offer services to individuals with mental health and justice system involvement often provide support (Dimmek, 1994;Edens et al, 1997;Hartwell & Orr, 1999), while some provide some housing options (Campanelli et al, 2005;Cimino & Jennings, 2001;Lamberti et al, 2001). TRHP provides a comprehensive program initially based around limited-term supportive housing, with access to staff 24-hours a day, and the option of group programming or individual support targeted to address client needs.…”

“…Researchers in this area (e.g., Hammett, Roberts, & Kennedy, 2001) have advocated for a more holistic approach when dealing with the complexities of the mentally ill prison population, as, historically, offenders with mental illness have been discharged from prison and left on their own to secure community resources, housing, and occupational support. The importance of prison-community linkages has been stressed (Wolff, 2002;Hammett et al, 2001;Campanelli et al, 2005) and risk factors for reoffending include a history of untreated mental illness, cooccurring substance abuse, and homelessness (Dolan & Doyle, 2000).…”

The Therapeutic Approach to a Patient's Criminal Offense in a Forensic Mental Health Nurse-Patient Relationship-The Nurses’ Perspectives

“…Psychological denial may, however, serve as a coping strategy, rendering poor insight merely another symptom or manifestation of the disorder (Cavelti, Rüsch, & Vauth, ; Karow et al., ). The stigmatization of mentally ill offenders, however, may constitute a risk factor for reoffending (Campanelli et al., ). A patient's conception of the stigmatization and beliefs surrounding his illness may impair self‐esteem and treatment outcomes (Aho‐Mustonen, ; Margetic, Aukst‐Margetic, Ivanec, & Filipcic, ; Williams, Moore, Adshead, McDowell, & Tapp, ).…”

Perception of Stigmatization in Forensic Patients With Schizophrenia

“…Although mental health providers have recognized stigmatization of offenders with mental illness as a risk factor for re-offending (Campanelli et al, 2005), the signifi cance of probable pronounced stigmatizing of forensic psychiatry patients should be investigated. There is also a lack of investigations focused on forensic psychiatric patients' attitudes towards stigma.…”