Transfers to civil psychiatric inpatient services from a maximum security forensic hospital

To examine inpatients discharged from a forensic psychiatric hospital to a civil hospital at the completion of their correctional sentence.

Extract information from a patient database.

About 20% of the discharges from the New York State forensic hospital that serves mentally ill state prison inmates, Central New York Psychiatric Center (CNYPC), are transferred to a civil psychiatric hospital; the remainder are returned to a correctional setting. Although their diagnoses, Global Assessment of Functioning scores, and number of prior inpatient admissions are similar, CNYPC transfers stay 1(1/2) times as long in their civil hospital admission as other civil hospital admissions. If total inpatient hospitalization before release to the community at large is considered (CNYPC plus the subsequent civil hospital), the stay is about 2(1/2) times as long. Fifty-two percent of the CNYPC transfers had been incarcerated for violent offenses and 28% are re-hospitalized within 12 months after release from the civil hospital.

Longer lengths of stay in the civil hospital for these CNYPC transfers do not seem to be related to psychiatric functioning. Instead, it may be related to being harder to place in a community setting. All these CNYPC transfers have prison histories, many have a violent offense history, and all have been geographically remote from their home communities for a long time periods. As a result, the social support networks of CNYPC transfers may be weaker than those of other civil inpatients. The families and neighborhood agencies of CNYPC transfers are probably less willing to accept them on their return than those of other civil patients.Enhanced discharge planning and support services targeted specially for correctional transfers to a civil psychiatric inpatient environment should be considered. These type of service may reduce inpatient length of stay and thereby allow the inpatient resources to be used by other patients.