Transcript Slide 1

O K L A H O M A D E PA R T M E N T O F C O R R E C T I O N S ( O D O C )
AND
O K L A H O M A D E PA R T M E N T O F M E N TA L H E A LT H
& S U B S TA N C E A B U S E S E R V I C E S ( O D M H S A S )
B OB M ANN, R N , L S W
A D M I N I S T R AT O R O F M E N TA L H E A LT H O P E R AT I O N S
O K L A H O M A D E PA R T M E N T O F C O R R E C T I O N S
Why Do We Need A Mental
Health Re-Entry Program ?

Today’s frontline mental health workers are law
enforcement officers, and today’s mental health
hospitals are jails and prisons

In the ODOC, approximately 13,000 (50%) out of
25,600 incarcerated offenders have a history of, or are
currently exhibiting some form of mental illness.
Approximately 6,500 (26%) currently exhibit symptoms
of a serious mental illness

ODOC data revealed that 41% of offenders with a
serious mental illness who discharged prior to 2007
returned to prison within three years after their release
Why Do We Need A Mental
Health Re-Entry Program?
How is this Interagency
Mental Health
Re-Entry Program Unique?
Beyond Collaboration

ODMHSAS has taken ownership for the continuity of
mental health services for those offenders with the
highest level of mental health need

ODMHSAS Discharge managers are boundary spanners
officed in DOC mental health units and member of
correctional mental health treatment team

The discharge managers serve as part of the ODOC
institution mental health treatment team that creates and
implements the individualized treatment plan, including
the reentry planning for offenders with a serious mental
illness
How is this Interagency
Mental Health
Re-Entry Program Unique?
Funding Source for Services

The goal is for the individual to leave prison with their
Social Security benefits in place and have the Medicaid
entitlement aligned so funding is in place for medical and
mental health services following release from prison

The discharge managers start the social security and
Medicaid application process 120 days prior to an
offender’s scheduled discharge

Collaboration with SSA and OK Disability Determination
Division has increased the “Allowance Rate” of SSI/SSDI
applications from 36% to 90%
How is this Interagency
Mental Health
Re-Entry Program Unique?
“In-Reach” and Intensive Services Post Release

Re-entry Intensive Care Coordination Teams (RICCT)
staff meets with the offender at a minimum of 90 days
before a projected release date from prison and then
works with the offender in the community until such time
as the offender has adjusted to life following
incarceration

An innovative and vital component of the RICCT
program is the inclusion of a Certified Peer Recovery
Support Specialist on the team. These team members
have life-experience with a mental illness and/or
substance abuse and have been trained to offer peer
support
Offenders Enrolled In
Medicaid
MHRP offenders
were over 4 times
more likely to be
enrolled in
Medicaid at prison
release than the
baseline
comparison group.
Rate of Engagement
Offenders Receiving 4 Services Within 44 Days of Release from DOC
Service
engagement rates
for MHRP
offenders were
over 5 times more
than the
baseline
comparison group.
Inpatient, Outpatient &
Pharmacy Services
MHRP offenders
showed 80% less
inpatient
admissions than
the baseline
comparison group.
MHRP offenders
received over 50%
more outpatient
services than the
baseline
comparison group.
Offenders Returning to
Prison Within 36 Months
Returns to prison
for RICCTS
offenders were 41%
lower than the
baseline
comparison group.
“Walter’s” Story

“Walter” was 8 years old when he started injecting heroin.
By age 11, he was living in a boy’s ranch, and then was
placed in a long-term boy’s home until he was 18. After a
short period on the street, Walter “hooked up with my best
friend heroin” and he shortly began his first prison term

After a brief period of time on the street, Walter was
again incarcerated. Prior to his last incarceration (that
began at the age of 35), Walter was sent for a psychiatric
evaluation and was diagnosed with Schizophrenia,
Paranoid type

Walter’s last incarceration was different. He started
taking medications for his mental illness and started to
think more clearly. Walter also made the decision to quit
taking drugs
“Walter’s” Story

From the age of 11 until he was 53, Walter had only been
out of institutions for a total of five and a half years

As Walter approached his discharge from prison , his
case manager asked him if he would like to participate in
a new mental health reentry program

Walter told the case manager that he’d never heard of a
Reentry Intensive Care Coordination Team (RICCT)
before, but that “no one has every helped me before, and
if they will help me get my psych meds, then I’m willing to
give them a try”
“Walter’s” Story

Immediately after Walter discharged from prison, the
RICCT staff worked to connect him to federal benefits and
to address his immediate needs. Walter was enrolled in a
mental health recovery group that is designed to help
individuals with a serious mental illness develop skills at
managing their recovery

At first, Walter had difficulty working in a group, “I still
didn’t like being around people and walked out of group at
first, but I kept coming back”

In April 2011, Walter told his story of recovery at the
Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance
Abuse Services Board meeting. “I know in my heart that
had it not been for the RICCT staff that I would be back in
prison (Walter discharged from prison in 2009) but
instead I’m doing better than I’ve ever done in my life”
Q UESTIONS ?