A prisoner assessment survey: Screenings of a municipal prison population

Abstract

In June of 1981 the Honorable Frank J. Polozola, U. S. District Court, Middle District of Louisiana, requested information on the mental health and substance abuse needs of inmates of Orleans Parish Prison. Estimates abounded but there was no information based on hard data. A more general exploration of the issue revealed that the problem of lack of information extended beyond Louisiana. According to the Comptroller General’s Report to Congress (1979), inmates needing mental health and substance abuse care are not identified by most prisons. Both this 1979 report and a subsequent 1980 report of the Comptroller General describe the extensive nature of the problem. Both in prisons and in local jails, care is nonexistent or inadequate due to funding and personnel limitations. Although medical screening of inmates is routine in most prisons, screening for mental health and substance abuse needs is not. When a psychiatric treatment program exists in a prison, it is most frequently limited to identifying and controlling violent inmates whose behavior is disturbing to others. The Comptroller General’s report (1979) states that services to substance abusers are especially lacking. The 1979 report further found that, in general, data on the extent and type of disorder is not even compiled. Even when screenings are performed, the data is usually not compiled, summarized, or analyzed. According to the Comptroller General’s report, a Bureau of Prisons reporting requirement summarizes some information on inmates with drug and alcohol problems, but it does not yield information on those with psychiatric and psychological problems. Bureau of Prisons reported in 1979 that due to other priorities, it would be several years before they could provide standard information on the type of mental health disorders in prisons. The 1980 report from the Comptroller General states that studies have shown that, on any given day, some 20-60% of jail inmates have mental health problems. As with prisons, most jails have no standard program for identifying or serving inmates in need of mental health and substance abuse services. The Comptroller General’s report (1980) stated that a study done for the National Coalition for Jail Reform in 1979 set the number of mentally ill jail inmates