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Community Mental Health Services And The Prevalence Of Severe Mental Illness In Local Jails: Are They Related, William Fisher, Ira Packer, Lorna Simon, David Smith

Ira K Packer

The excessive prevalence of severe mental illness noted in correctional settings has sometimes been attributed to the inadequacy of community based mental health services. This study examines the prevalence of severe mental illness in two jails situated within catchment areas featuring markedly different levels of community mental health services. We use these settings to test the hypothesis that greater levels of services in a community are associated with lower prevalence of severe mental illness in the community's jail. An epidemiologic approach, using standardized field instruments, was used to estimate the prevalence of major mental illness in detainees arriving at the …