Corrections_Today_Summer_2024_Vol.86_No.2

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH COMMITTEE

happening where unsuccessful programs often take away hope. He quotes in his article “Human be ings can live about 30 days without food, about three days without water, and about three minutes without air, but we can’t live 30 seconds without hope. 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.” Thomas Boggs in community corrections, also sees the use of computer technology being instru mental in successful treatment. In application and web-based prac tices, he sees AI as predicting some correctional individuals’ outcomes. He thinks that in five years or so an I-Pad with curriculum built in to individualize one on one and group treatment may become the norm. Technology may pick up nuances of clinical cases which will be essential in helping a client stay stable. He also sees the possibility of fewer licensed mental health staff and more bachelor’s level or trainee level staff to assess individuals and deliver interventions in community corrections. At a bachelor’s level, programs need to start prepar ing clinicians to go into this field and work in community correc tions as well as prisons. Finally, Thomas sees the move towards more trauma- informed care, seeing positive changes at both the pro cedural and policy levels as key. More person first approaches will be advocated with less stigma for mental health problems. Staff will become more aware and sensitive to trauma issues and struggles in

daily encounters with corrections individuals. There needs to be more initiatives to forward the trauma informed message and increase specialized training, especially for front-line staff. Using the reentry model for success Randy Shively, Ph.D., Chair of ACA Behavioral Health has found working with the mentally ill, especially in community correc tions, continuity between starting services in prison and successfully transitioning individuals to com munity resources is essential as this link provides the hope and success for the correctional indi vidual’s future. It is so important that we start working as a multi disciplinary team fielding cases on a regular basis, especially for those individuals who are difficult; without adequate staffing their im provement can be easily lost. With the multidisciplinary team model and looking at the broad picture of reentry from prisons and jails to the community, continuity and resources can be shared which will help every correctional staff who daily works with this popula tion. The problem of serving this population is too great for any one system to tackle, but with continu ity in the reentry process across systems much progress and hope can be instilled. At Alvis, we have experienced much growth and efficiency in serv ing those with serious mental illness by hiring our own psychiatrist and nurse practitioners to coordinate and communicate with our mental

health clinicians and our addiction counselors. A one stop shop pro vides increased efficiency and fewer mistakes in serving this population. Individuals referred to us obtain a thorough chart review weeks before coming to start planning for their treatment needs. Advanced preparation is key so that when individuals are referred to us from jails and prisons we are ready to do a thorough assessment of all their programming needs within days of arrival and begin needed treatment soon after. Our treatment team comprised of administrators, supervisors, clinicians and medical staff meet bi-weekly to staff difficult cases and ensure that our process is respon sive and timely. Any problems can be resolved quickly and our agency has been constantly learning and improving as gaps in service deliv ery or timeliness are noticed. When community corrections individuals enter our system, linkages begin and community resources are sought for each individual. By the time most of our individuals are discharged (4-6 months) a thorough and indi vidualized discharge plan has been developed. The individual links to community services have been made. As Dr. Shively has learned over the years — “work up front always produces the best results on the back end”. CT

Randy Shively, Ph.D. is the chair of the ACA Behavioral Health Committee and the director of Research and Clinical Development for Alvis, Inc.

Summer 2024 | Corrections Today

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