One-Third Of U.S. Jails Use Screenings & Assessments For Behavioral Health Diversion

About one-third of U.S. jail administrators surveyed said their jail uses information from behavioral health screening and assessment tools to divert people into appropriate settings for either mental health or substance use issues, according to research by The Pew Charitable Trusts. These low diversionary practices occur despite 88% of jails that responded to the survey reporting that they screen all individuals for mental health needs, the researchers found.

The Pew Charitable Trusts presented these findings in Survey Responses Suggest Few U.S. Jails Use Screenings and Assessments for Behavioral Health Diversion. The goal was to better understand the . . .