Effects of Pre-release Services on Access to Behavioral Health Treatment after Release from Prison

Abstract

Using the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative data-set, substance use and mental health needs of released inmates are examined to explore whether there is a positive relationship between pre-release services and behavioral health treatment access at three months post-release. Two weighted hierarchical linear models were run testing the effects of three key pre-release services: pre-release needs assessment, pre-release linkage with inmates’ post-release case managers, and pre-release assistance with accessing post-release health insurance. Results demonstrate that pre-release needs assessment significantly increases the odds of receiving post-release substance abuse treatment, and case management linkage and assistance with accessing health insurance significantly increase the odds of mental health treatment after release. Policy implications for reentry service provision targeting behavioral health needs, and directions for future research, are discussed.

Keywords:

• reentry
• public health
• substance abuse
• mental health
• treatment

Notes

¹ The full model used to calculate the inverse probability weights is included in Appendix 1.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Leah Hamilton

Leah Hamilton is a PhD student in criminal justice at Temple University, holding an M.Phil. in criminology from the University of Cambridge. Her research interests include the nexus between public health and criminal justice, substance use treatment and policy, and implementation science research. She is currently working as a part of the Temple University research team on the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded JJ-TRIALS project for improving substance use treatment linkages for juveniles in community corrections.

Steven Belenko

Steven Belenko is professor of criminal justice at Temple University, holding a PhD in experimental psychology from Columbia University. Dr Belenko is a leading expert in the impact of substance abuse on the adult and juvenile justice systems, HIV risk behaviors and related service needs for offenders, and implementation science research in criminal justice agencies. Dr Belenko has led multiple research studies as a principal investigator and is currently the principal investigator for the Temple University Center for Adolescent Implementation Research on the NIDA-funded JJ-TRIALS project. He has published numerous articles and book chapters, as well as four books including Implementing Evidence-Based Practices in Community Corrections and Addiction Treatment with co-author Dr Faye Taxman.