ersons with mental and behavioral health disorders are substantially overrepresented in the criminal justice system. Today, several sources point to the Los Angeles County Jail as the largest mental healthcare provider on the West Coast. On the East Coast, it is Rikers Island jail in New York.* Dr. Joseph Toomey, assistant professor of Psychology in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program and director of the Forensic Psychology Concentration, notes that the rate of severe mental illness is three to five times higher in the criminal justice setting than in the general population. In county correctional facilities, he adds, suicide is the leading cause of death. 鈥淭he criminal justice system has become the default system for individuals who have difficulty accessing effective evidence-based mental and behavioral healthcare in communities. The need to train people familiar with these healthcare needs is overwhelming in the criminal justice setting,鈥� says Dr. Robert Kinscherff, associate vice president for Community Engagement and associate professor in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program. Dr. Nilda Laboy, chair of the Counseling and Behavioral Health Department and associate professor, explains that this need is significant at every point in the criminal justice system. That 鈥渨ith deinstitutionalization of mental health patients, a lot of individuals who would have been treated in psychiatric hospitals ended up in prisons and jails, so they now have to provide a lot of mental health treatment. 鈥淭here also is an overrepresentation among the incarceration of minorities and people of lower socioeconomic status. Some of them were caught dealing drugs or intoxicated in public, but because of their lack of resources, they can鈥檛 hire a good attorney and enter a diversion program, so they end up in jail,鈥� says Laboy. As for community reintegration, 鈥減eople are often sent back into the community without a real plan. They leave jail with no money, no place to stay, and no current job skills. It鈥檚 likely that they will commit another crime and return to jail,鈥� says Laboy. P 鈥淭he criminal justice system has become the default system for individuals who have difficulty accessing effective evidence-based mental and behavioral healthcare in communities.鈥� 鈥擱obert Kinscherff, PhD, JD, associate vice president, Community Engagement Dr. Robert Kinscherff MASTER OF ARTS IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH To provide more training in this area, 91香蕉视频成人在线 is launching a new Master of Arts (MA) in Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health. Kinscherff explains, 鈥淭his program is unique because it focuses on providing criminal justice professionals with the skills and information to deal with the reality of the significant mental and behavioral health needs in the criminal justice system. Other schools may offer a class on mental or behavioral health, but this program equips students to address the mental and behavioral health issues in criminal justice populations.鈥� *www.newsone.com/2744141/prisons-mental-health-providers WILLIAM JAMES COLLEGE 15