Jail Diversion Program Implementation in a Homeless Patient With Schizophrenia: A Case Report

With a majority of prisoners in the United States having a history of mental illness and only half of these receiving mental health treatment, it became imperative to develop programs to assist those with mental illness to avoid repeated incarceration. The Eleventh Judicial Circuit Criminal Mental Health Project (CMHP) was developed to decrease recidivism in patients with serious mental illness (SMI). This case details how the Mental Health Offender Program (MHOP), created following the CMHP model, allows for substantial decreases in costs associated with non-violent offenders with SMI and provides wraparound services to improve their functioning and quality of life.