Lifelines: Linking to Federal Benefits for People Exiting Corrections –  Blueprint for Action

October 2009 This report, from the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, in three volumes, explains why and how to ensure access to essential benefits and services for people with mental illness upon their release from incarceration. Volume 1 makes the case for assisting people with mental illnesses in corrections facilities to gain prompt access upon release to the federal benefits that enable successful re-entry -- income support, health care, food stamps, etc. Volume 2 is the blueprint for action, describing in detail what state and local governments and correctional facilities can do to enable individuals to access federal benefits . . .