Intermediate care programs to reduce risk and better manage inmates with psychiatric disorders

Intermediate Care Programs were jointly established by the New York State Office of Mental Health and Department of Correctional Services to reduce risk and better manage inmates with psychiatric disorders. In an earlier study, we collected data from the mental health and corrections records of 209 inmates who were admitted to Intermediate Care Programs. Our analysis of those data showed there were significant reductions in the mean number of serious problem behaviors, correctional restrictions, and mental health crisis services during the six months before and after admission. In the present study, we used Wilcoxon tests to assess changes in the distribution of scores on variables assessed by the earlier study. The Wilcoxon tests showed there were significant changes in the distribution of scores on most of the variables. We then focused on inmates who scored positive on the respective variables, either before admission or after admission, and determined the percentage who improved, stayed the same, or worsened on those variables. The highest reductions occurred in mental health observations (65%), suicide attempts (63%), and emergency medications (43%). Lower reductions occurred in correctional infractions and restrictions (26% to 31%). Overall, the data from this study and our earlier one suggest that Intermediate Care Programs are effective in reducing risk and managing inmates with psychiatric disorders.