title: The impact of mental illness status on the length of jail detention and the legal mechanism of jail release.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This analysis investigated whether persons with serious mental illnesses have longer jail detentions than other detainees and whether they are released by different legal mechanisms.
  
  
  METHODS
  Jail records and mental health service records from a Medicaid database were matched for all admissions to the Philadelphia jail system in 2003. Survival analysis techniques were used to compare length of jail stays of persons with and without serious mental illnesses (N=24,290). Serious mental illness was defined as a diagnosis either in the schizophrenia spectrum (DSM-IV code 295.XX) or of a major affective disorder (DSM-IV code 296.XX) recorded in Medicaid records (2001-2003). Mechanisms of release were also examined for those with release dates before September 1, 2005 (N=20,573)
  
  
  RESULTS
  Just over 50% of the 1,457 persons with serious mental illnesses were released from jail within 30 days of incarceration, compared with 56% of the other detainees. Mental illness status was not found to be a significant predictor of longer detentions. Forty-nine percent of those with serious mental illnesses were released from jails through unpredictable release mechanisms, such as bail, release from court, or withdrawal of a bench warrant, whereas only 19% were released through mechanisms that had release dates that allowed adequate time for discharge planning.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that reentry programs and other jail-based interventions for persons with mental illnesses should ensure that they have the capacity to rapidly identify and serve clients with shorter and more unpredictable stays or risk not being responsive to the needs of a substantial proportion of this population.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania, 3701 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. jdraine@sp2.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Draine
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blank Wilson
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Metraux
authors.forename: Trevor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hadley
authors.forename: Arthur C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Evans
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003416:Criminal Law / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders; D008875:Middle Aged; D015143:Philadelphia; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011330:Prisons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult