GLMHC/SCORE Jail Program Providing Court Ordered Assessments and Jail Transition Services for City of Tacoma residents sent to the SCORE jail
Mental Health & Transitioning at SCORE Jail
Background/History The City of Tacoma has historically contracted with the Pierce County Jail (PCJ) to house misdemeanor offenders arrested by the Tacoma Police Department Due to the rising costs at the PCJ, the City of Tacoma ended their contract with PCJ in January of 2013 and entered into a new contract with Fife Jail, who subcontracts with SCORE
What is SCORE? SCORE stands for South Correctional Entity Private jail located in Des Moines that was originally created to provide services for a number of King County Municipal jurisdictions The facility opened in September 2011 and can house up to 802 inmates Fife brings female inmates, those with medical and mental health issues, and others to SCORE, depending on need
Why SCORE?
MH Services at SCORE The facility has a mental health department as part of medical, which provides medication and mental health assessments during incarceration Due to staffing and other considerations, Jail Mental Health is more focused on: Individuals with acute needs during incarceration Due to jurisdiction, etc.: King County inmates for transition services
MH Services at SCORE The department was unable to provide full transition services and was quickly overwhelmed with the number of courtordered assessments for Tacoma arrestees Currently, Jail Mental Health works in collaboration with the GLMHC embedded program to provide comprehensive mental health services Med management, crisis, connection
Gaps in Services in the Past The lack of transition services meant that individuals with mental illness were not receiving assistance with re-applying for Medicaid, SSI, or re-connecting with mental health services The lack of transition planning also resulted in individuals being released to the streets in Fife with no transportation and often with no place to go
Services Now at SCORE Mental Health Screenings Conduct initial assessments with newly incarcerated individuals from Tacoma PD in order to determine their needs Jail Transitional Services Provide linkages to needed community services, including appointments with mental health providers upon release and treatment bed dates if appropriate/possible
Services, cont. Emergency Transition Services Arrange for crisis beds when needed (The City of Tacoma has provided funding to Comprehensive Life Resources for beds for individuals with mental illness releasing from SCORE) Evaluate and Advise assessments Ordered through the Tacoma Municipal Courts so the court may be informed if an individual has a mental illness and whether or not competency to stand trial may be in question
Optum Connection We found that there were still some gaps in assisting people into services once they were released due to only having one individual on the team In seeking a solution for this, we met with Optum in November and they approved a process by which individuals releasing from SCORE could be referred to the Jail Transition Team assigned to the Pierce County Jail
JTS-Specific Services Pick-ups from SCORE JTS staff has been able to arrange to pick up vulnerable individuals from the SCORE jail upon release, to close gap in needs Pre-release meetings to coordinate Making connections so that inmates feel less uncertain about following up/services Follow-up after release To provide holistic community services
How is it going?
The Numbers Difficult to determine outcome data at this stage However: Since the program started with embedding at SCORE in October 2013: 354 total Case Management services 364 total Mental Health Screening services 106 Total Eval & Advise services
Populations Served High utilizers City of Tacoma compiles a list of Frequently arrested individuals Court-ordered evals Show behaviors of concern to court regarding potential competency issues Previous utilizers of Mental Health services New and in need (screenings)
Partnering, Coordination, and Referrals Communication, Communication, Communication! Fife Jail SCORE Jail staff Mental health Transportation Within jail/officers City of Tacoma Jail Transitional Services/Greater Lakes Outside agencies
Partnering, etc. Partnering with community organizations: Pierce County Alliance Pioneer Human Services Comprehensive Life Resources (Park Place) Work Source Telecare GLMHC Jail Transitional Services Brain Injury Association of Washington Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera
Feedback Contract has been in effect for 10 months (As of August 2014) In this stage, we have already received feedback from: City of Tacoma - very pleased with the services being provided Tacoma Municipal Court - particularly impressed with the quality of the eval and advise assessments
Success Stories The case of Jonathan In jail at SCORE for several months Never received official mental health treatment, including medications or counseling Paranoid Schizophrenia Screened for mental health as routine part of embedded SCORE MHP program
The Case of Jonathan Connected therapeutically to MHP while in SCORE jail, built trust Started taking medication, compliant Completed substance use evaluation Received bed at Park Place for transition services Continued working with JTS to get connected to community mental health
Questions/Clarifications Thank you for your attention Any questions about the program? Contact information: Lia Kamitsis, LMHC Mental Health Professional, SCORE liak@glmhc.org (206) 257-6288