“Good luck, social distance”: rapid decarceration and community care for serious mental illness and substance use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic inspired calls for rapid decarceration of prisons and jails to slow the spread of disease in a high-risk congregate setting. Due to the rarity of intentionally-decarcerative policies, little is known about the effects of rapid decarceration on individuals with serious...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Health & Justice |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-023-00238-5 |
| _version_ | 1797577464879251456 |
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| author | Jennifer E. James Emily F. Dauria Riya Desai Adelaide Bell Jacob M. Izenberg |
| author_facet | Jennifer E. James Emily F. Dauria Riya Desai Adelaide Bell Jacob M. Izenberg |
| author_sort | Jennifer E. James |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic inspired calls for rapid decarceration of prisons and jails to slow the spread of disease in a high-risk congregate setting. Due to the rarity of intentionally-decarcerative policies, little is known about the effects of rapid decarceration on individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) substance use disorder (SUD), a population who receive many services via the criminal legal system (CLS). We conducted interviews with 13 key informants involved in CLS in San Francisco, CA to better understand the implication of the decarcerative policies put into practice in early 2020. Participants described a tension between the desire to have fewer people incarcerated and the challenges of accessing services and support – especially during the lockdown period of the pandemic – outside of the CLS given the number of services that are only accessible to those who have been arrested, incarcerated, or sentenced. These findings emphasize the need for investing in community social services rather than further expanding the CLS to achieve the goal of supporting individuals with SMI and SUD shrinking the US system of mass incarceration. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:09:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b7004d507267489591a8ac4f20646034 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2194-7899 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:09:39Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Health & Justice |
| spelling | doaj.art-b7004d507267489591a8ac4f206460342023-11-19T12:41:56ZengBMCHealth & Justice2194-78992023-09-011111810.1186/s40352-023-00238-5“Good luck, social distance”: rapid decarceration and community care for serious mental illness and substance use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemicJennifer E. James0Emily F. Dauria1Riya Desai2Adelaide Bell3Jacob M. Izenberg4Institute for Health and Aging, University of California, San FranciscoSchool of Public Health, Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, University of PittsburghSchool of Medicine, University of California, San FranciscoWashington and Lee UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San FranciscoAbstract The COVID-19 pandemic inspired calls for rapid decarceration of prisons and jails to slow the spread of disease in a high-risk congregate setting. Due to the rarity of intentionally-decarcerative policies, little is known about the effects of rapid decarceration on individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) substance use disorder (SUD), a population who receive many services via the criminal legal system (CLS). We conducted interviews with 13 key informants involved in CLS in San Francisco, CA to better understand the implication of the decarcerative policies put into practice in early 2020. Participants described a tension between the desire to have fewer people incarcerated and the challenges of accessing services and support – especially during the lockdown period of the pandemic – outside of the CLS given the number of services that are only accessible to those who have been arrested, incarcerated, or sentenced. These findings emphasize the need for investing in community social services rather than further expanding the CLS to achieve the goal of supporting individuals with SMI and SUD shrinking the US system of mass incarceration.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-023-00238-5 |
| spellingShingle | Jennifer E. James Emily F. Dauria Riya Desai Adelaide Bell Jacob M. Izenberg “Good luck, social distance”: rapid decarceration and community care for serious mental illness and substance use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic Health & Justice |
| title | “Good luck, social distance”: rapid decarceration and community care for serious mental illness and substance use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full | “Good luck, social distance”: rapid decarceration and community care for serious mental illness and substance use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_fullStr | “Good luck, social distance”: rapid decarceration and community care for serious mental illness and substance use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Good luck, social distance”: rapid decarceration and community care for serious mental illness and substance use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_short | “Good luck, social distance”: rapid decarceration and community care for serious mental illness and substance use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_sort | good luck social distance rapid decarceration and community care for serious mental illness and substance use disorder during the covid 19 pandemic |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40352-023-00238-5 |
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