Corrections_Today_Summer_2024_Vol.86_No.2

COMMITTEES

Where do you see the field of behavioral health heading in the next five years? Dr. Aufderheide sees in jails and prisons Telehealth expanding and making a lot of inroads, especially in front line mental health services. He feels this tool could open up a lot of needed services that may be currently neglected or that cannot be appropriately manned by clinical staff. Telehealth services could be very individualized and packaged in modules that could be downloaded on computers and digested at the convenience of correctional indi viduals. He also sees in the next five years environments improv ing for individuals with mental health where they are healthier and more sensitive to elements known to help mental health individu als: adequate space, comfortable furniture, increased lighting, and other architectural redesigns. This will make many of these pods for mental health individuals in pris ons look less like a prison and more like a treatment facility. Third, he sees the continued adaptation of the managed care model becoming more used by a wider perspective of professionals under a multidis ciplinary service team. He states

difficulty in deciding medication assisted treatment (MAT) - what is needed or not needed for correc tions’ individuals; in general most community corrections staff have trouble understanding MAT terms and the treatment options offered to our population. Often our correc tional individuals do not understand the benefits of use and their practi cal choices. Thomas Boggs, clinician dis cusses in community corrections the stigma of men getting treatment and the fear of vulnerability due to past experiences within the system. Often, community corrections individuals have not felt safe and had an ongoing accumulative history of negative ex periences while being served. Often community corrections individuals have felt labeled as a problem and do not understand how treatment options can help their quality of life. Thomas sees another obstacle in corrections staff not always keeping confidentiality and privacy care fully guarded. He sees that “words and labels could come back to hurt certain individuals who may be very guarded in sharing important health care information because of this.” Finally, Thomas sees an obstacle of not enough targeted curriculum to meet the needs of mental health individuals and not enough effort in normalizing their problems. He has seen The Change Companies ma terials as very helpful for staff and corrections individuals, especially trauma-based curriculum that in cludes a lot of interactive journaling. Out of this journaling, homework assignments can be given and treat ment can be more individualized for specific mental health issues.

things will progress from a more traditional medical model to a community mental health services model. He also sees more board certification for all correctional mental health professionals such as social work, licensed psychia trists, psychologists, etc. Finally, Dr. Aufderheide sees it essential to adopt a public health/ public safety model. Writing in Advancing Corrections, the Journal of Inter national Corrections and Prisons Association he states, “Never designed, equipped, or intended to be mental health facilities, jails and prisons have struggled with cost, litigation, community linkage and care, and custody issues for individuals with mental illness. He advocates that a paradigm shift is needed to change how stakeholders approach the problem and recog nize public safety and public health outcomes are inextricably linked, writing “It is opportune to adopt a public safety public health model which creates an effective synergy between the public health and criminal justice systems.” He talks of the hope of restoration as an essential ingredient in successful treatment and rehabilitation pro grams. It is key to engage inmates in the process by instilling a sense of hope and anticipation of the possibility of something positive

Hope is the power of possibility and the anchor for restoration, which is especially critical for the mentally ill inmates whose disorders complicate their reentry into the community.

Corrections Today | Summer 2024

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