Jail in-reach by community-based services

Community-based service providers–including mental health providers, substance addiction treatment providers, housing services, and probation and parole agencies–work with the jail to connect with people while they are in custody. This helps to ensure a “warm hand-off” to service providers upon release.

Local Examples

Jackson County, OH Jackson County Sheriff's Office

• The community-based behavioral health provider, Hopewell Health Centers (HHC), provides case management and services to people in the jail.
• Case managers from HHC work with people while they are incarcerated and connect people leaving the jail to HHC outpatient clinics for continuation of services and treatment in the community.

For more information on this example, see this resource:

• Gallia, Jackson, Meigs Counties Sheriffs' Offices, OH Learning Site Profile

Tuscaloosa County, AL

• The county has a Stepping Up social worker position, a master’s level clinician who is stationed at the jail for the first half of the day, Monday through Friday, to complete mental illness and substance use disorder assessments.
• The Stepping Up social worker facilitates conditional releases to inpatient and residential treatment and coordinates wraparound outpatient services upon release from the jail, including completing their admission intake and scheduling first appointments.

Shelby County, TN

• The Shelby County Division of Corrections provides treatment for people with co-occurring substance use disorders and mental illnesses. As part of the Support Yields a Nurturing Environment (SYNC) program, the Shelby County Office of ReEntry coordinates with Alliance Healthcare Services, a community-based mental health provider, whose caseworkers enter the facility to provide a trauma processing group.
• When people are exiting the facility, they are referred to Alliance for ongoing mental health treatment.