Law Commons^™

Mentally Ill Prisoners In The California Department Of Corrections And Rehabilitation: Strategies For Improving Treatment And Reducing Recidivism

W. David Ball

California prisons and jails treat more people with mental illness than hospitals and residential treatment centers combined. Mentally ill prisoners receive inadequate medical and psychiatric care, serve longer terms than the average inmate, and are released without adequate preparation and support for their return to society. As a result, these offenders are much more likely to violate parole and return to prison, cycling ever-downward. With the California prison healthcare system currently in receivership, and the state poised to spend more money on prisons than on colleges in the coming fiscal year, this paper addresses a topic that is both underreported …