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As part of a larger study of women serving sentences in a large Midwestern jail, mothers were asked whether they had contact with child welfare authorities and their opinions of [...]

The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between childhood trauma and current mental health status of 110 women incarcerated in a Midwestern jail. The K6 distress scale was used to assess current mental health status. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) scale was utilized to measure traumatic events occurring in childhood. The percentage of women identified as having serious psychological distress exceeded rates found in the extant literature involving criminal justice-involved women. Women reporting more ACEs scored significantly higher on the K6. Additionally, women with higher K6 scores forecast a greater likelihood of arrest post-release, were older, had been in jail fewer times, were in jail for a longer time when interviewed, and were more likely to be mothers of minor children. These findings support the need for gender-responsive treatment and trauma-informed care to address mental health challenges among women in jail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an interview with Mythily Subramaniam, exploring information about mental health and substance use disorders in the multi-cultural Asian community in Singapore.

Research about pregnant women in jail is scant. This exploratory study begins to fill this gap by examining the demographics; background characteristics; and self-reported physical health, mental health, and substance use challenges reported by 27 pregnant women incarcerated in a large midwestern county jail. It further reports on the prenatal care before and during their incarceration, plans of these pregnant women for delivery of their child, caring for their infant after their release from jail, and their expectations of paternal or family support post-release. Among the sample, 66.7 percent reported a physical health care problem, 48.2 percent had received mental health treatment, and 18.5 percent had substance use treatment in the previous year, but only 51.9 percent had seen a health care professional before their incarceration. All women expected the father of their child to provide financial support, but only 76.9 percent expected the father to be involved with the child. The authors also discuss implications of the findings for jail health care services and reintegration policy and practice for pregnant women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mothers of minor children serving sentences in a large Midwestern jail were screened for potential substance use problems and asked to report their physical and mental health status and treatment experiences. Of mothers screened for substance use problems, 72.1% had positive findings on the AUDIT-12, 56.7% reported at least one serious physical health problem, and 67.1% had received mental health treatment. More than two-thirds (68.8%) of the 240 mothers reported a co-occurring condition, and a third (33.8%) reported problems in all three spheres (substance use, mental health, and physical health). The relationship among the three health-related problems is examined as well as the characteristics of mothers related to having co-occurring health conditions. Given that the overwhelming majority of mothers reported more than one health-related problem, the changes to policy and practice need to avoid simplistic solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses managing mental health. Managed behavioral health care is driven primarily by two assumptions about the bases of costs. The first assumption is that unnecessary care is being provided, so that tight controls should be directed at reducing the frequency of care. The second is that inappropriate types of care for patient's conditions are being provided, so close case review can be used to reduce the intensity of care. Techniques to control the frequency of mental health care use include cost shifting, which lowers the probability of use by increasing the patient's share of costs. Increasing the patient's cost of care has always been the fear of providers who care for poor sick people. Containing the intensity of care per user is accomplished through the use of health maintenance organizations, precertification and concurrent approval for care by managed care organization reviewers. There is an emerging national uneasiness about the lack of fit between chronic mental illness and the acute care treatment model practiced in managed behavioral health care, because the care of severely mentally ill patients has been built on a different set of assumptions.