Assessment and Diagnosis of Correctional Clients

Chapter 5 (Assessment and Diagnosis of Correctional Clients) presents an important overview of the major categories of mental illness and intellectual development disorders. Due in part to reductions in funding for community mental health services, our correctional systems have a growing population of system-involved clients diagnosed with mental illness and with intellectual disabilities. Prisons are now the largest providers of mental health services in the country. To ensure the safety of this correctional population, a mental health-related diagnosis should be a major factor in determining correctional placement. While clinical correctional professionals (e.g., licensed psychologists or psychiatrists) should be responsible for making these assessments and diagnoses, it is extremely important that correctional staff be trained to recognize symptoms of mental illnesses and report their concerns to make the appropriate referrals to best serve this population.