“The primary underlying drivers of incarceration for those in Middlesex County, as they are nationwide, are mental-health and substance-use disorders,” said Koutoujian in a July 19 news release. “This grant will help us work with community and academic collaborators to craft, implement and manage an initiative creating greater continuity of care for those leaving our custody. This will include individually tailored reentry plans, evidence-based interventions and other services supported by a navigator.”
In calendar year 2017, 48 percent of all individuals entering the Middlesex Jail & House of Correction reported a history of mental illness, while 41 percent required medical detox. A series of one-day snapshots conducted in 2016 showed that 76 percent of those prescribed psychiatric medications also had a co-occurring substance-use disorder.
“This is exactly the type of care initiative that should be implemented,” Capuano said in the release. “Simply releasing individuals with known mental-health and substance-use issues from prison without giving them access to supportive services makes reentry for them more difficult. It increases the likelihood that they will fail and return to prison. I applaud Sheriff Koutoujian, Advocates and the MIT lab for forming this partnership and focusing on evidence-based rehabilitation and reentry strategies.”
Diane Gould, president and CEO of the Advocates, said: “Many people released from jail have serious mental health and substance use challenges -– and often few resources and supports. Our re-entry services address the numerous needs that people have when they return to the community, and we are committed to working closely with the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office to replicate our community justice reentry model and help improve the health and safety of Middlesex County.”
Daniel Hidalgo, professor of political science and MIT lab faculty associate, said, “Better understanding the link between improved re-entry services and recidivism rates could be an important contribution to building trust between communities and government, as well as improved outcomes for those in the criminal justice system.”
Originally authorized by Congress in 2004, the justice program seeks to increase public safety by facilitating collaboration among the criminal-justice, mental-health and substance-treatment systems to increase access to mental health and other services. The grant program is administered by the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance.
This news announcement was published Thursday, July 19, 2018.
