Psychiatric needs in local jails: emergency issues.
There is an urgent need for psychiatric services for mentally ill inmates in local jails. The authors recommend that a psychiatric team be established inside the jail to provide short-term crisis evaluation, disposition, and treatment; that special training be provided for jail booking personnel in the recognition of psychiatric problems during the initial jail screening and classification process; that special modules be developed for mentally ill inmates; and that inmates in need of hospitalization have easy access to hospital beds. They describe a psychiatric ward actually located within a county jail to treat mentally ill inmates who are considered security risks.
D000328:Adult; D002140:California; D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders; D003419:Crisis Intervention; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011330:Prisons; D012112:Residential Facilities; D012926:Social Control, Formal; D014481:United States