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Case management and recidivism of mentally ill persons released from jail
L A Ventura1, C A Cassel, J E Jacoby
1Inmate Services at the Lucas County Sheriff's Office, Toledo, OH 43624, USA.
Objective:
The study tested the hypothesis that case management provided to mentally ill offenders both in jail and after release from jail would reduce their recidivism.
Methods:
A total of 261 inmates of the Lucas County (Toledo, Ohio) jail who were diagnosed with a mental disorder were tracked for three years after their release. The relationships between recidivism and diagnostic, demographic, and case management variables were examined through event history analysis.
Results:
Recidivism was associated with age, employment, previous arrests, and receipt of community-based case management. Receipt of jail-based case management, although not directly related to recidivism, significantly increased the probability of receiving community-based case management. Receipt of community case management was significantly associated with a lower probability of rearrest and a longer period before rearrest.
Conclusions:
This study found hopeful signs that expanding access to case management, both inside and outside jail, will help mentally ill people live in their communities and stay out of jail.