Evidence-based Enhancement of the Detection, Prevention

PROJECT SUMMARY FOR 2000 IJ-CX 0044

A three-year study is proposed to develop, implement, validate,
and disseminate an efficient three-stage mental health screening protocol. The result will be an evidence-based screening protocol that will be accessible nationally by correctional facilities for clinical, research, and program development and evaluation purposes. The study's goal is to develop and validate a mental health screening protocol to enhance the timely and accurate identification of psychiatric disorders within adult correctional systems. To achieve this goal, two specific objectives were developed: first, to evaluate the reliability and validity of a composite mental health screen adapted from existing evidence-based protocols. Retest, inter-rater, and internal consistency reliability will be tested. The criterion validity of the screen will be evaluated against "gold standard" structured interviews for diagnostic classification and psychosocial functioning/impairment. The screen's predictive validity will be evaluated in relationship to prospective data on (a) mental and physical health, crises, and service utilization, and (b) behavioral or custody outcomes, and second to determine the best brief subset of the mental health screen's items, separate from or in combination with existing mental health clinical assessment data (i.e., level of intensity of mental health service needs), for the rapid identification of inmates with psychiatric disorders requiring care.

400 NA H3 GP 16.560