Abstract

The prevalence of serious mental illness in correctional facilities is approximately eight times higher than in the general population. The difficulties experienced by people with serious mental illness and correctional involvement are often compounded by substance abuse, homelessness, lack of support and stigma. While psychiatric treatment is provided in custody, rapid access to mental health services upon release is essential to ensure continuity of prescribed medications, monitoring and support in areas such as finances and housing. However, there are barriers to accessing services upon release, resulting in high rates of return to custody. In addition, there is a shortage of community psychiatrists and often long waiting lists for assertive community treatment teams. In this paper, we describe the development of an innovative community service to fill this gap. For the past 10 years, the Forensic Early Intervention Service (FEIS) has provided mental health consultation and case management services within two correctional centres in Toronto. The service has now been expanded into the community to provide continuity of care for individuals released from custody who otherwise have no existing mental health service provider. We describe the structure of the new service and the gap it seeks to fill.