Criminal Justice Contact and Treatment Utilization Among People With Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders.
This study examined whether a history of criminal justice involvement is related to the use of contemporaneous mental health and substance abuse treatment among adults experiencing co-occurring disorders.



Pooled 2009-2013 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health were used to analyze patterns of mental health and substance abuse treatment utilization of 8,740 adults with past-year co-occurring disorders.



Individuals with a criminal history were more likely than those without a criminal history to receive both types of treatment or substance abuse treatment alone.



The criminal justice system appears to be facilitating mental health and substance abuse treatment among people experiencing co-occurring disorders but may also be overreliant on substance abuse treatment alone.
Ms. Nam and Dr. Matejkowski are with the School of Social Welfare and the Center for Mental Health Research and Innovation, University of Kansas, Lawrence (e-mail: eunjinam@ku.edu ). Dr. Lee is with the School of Social Welfare, Soongsil University, Seoul, South Korea.
Eunji
E
Nam
Ms. Nam and Dr. Matejkowski are with the School of Social Welfare and the Center for Mental Health Research and Innovation, University of Kansas, Lawrence (e-mail: eunjinam@ku.edu ). Dr. Lee is with the School of Social Welfare, Soongsil University, Seoul, South Korea.
Jason
J
Matejkowski
Ms. Nam and Dr. Matejkowski are with the School of Social Welfare and the Center for Mental Health Research and Innovation, University of Kansas, Lawrence (e-mail: eunjinam@ku.edu ). Dr. Lee is with the School of Social Welfare, Soongsil University, Seoul, South Korea.
Sungkyu
S
Lee
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003416:Criminal Law / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult