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Costigan CL, Woodin EM, Duerksen KN, Ferguson R. Benefits and Drawbacks of Police Integration Into Assertive Community Treatment Teams. Psychiatr Serv 2022; 73:447-455. [PMID: 34615367 DOI: 10.1176/appi.ps.201900549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Assertive community treatment (ACT) teams provide outreach services to individuals coping with severe mental illness. Because such individuals are at increased risk for involvement with law enforcement, a model that integrates police officers into ACT teams (ACT-PI) was developed for ACT teams serving clients with or without forensic involvement. The goal of this study, conducted in British Columbia, was to evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of the ACT-PI model. METHODS Qualitative semistructured interviews were conducted with 21 ACT-PI clients (in 2017) and 22 ACT-PI staff (in 2018). Thematic analyses identified key themes related to the benefits and drawbacks of officer integration into the ACT-PI model. RESULTS Perceived benefits of police integration were opportunities for relationship building between officers and clients, improved safety, more holistic care due to embeddedness (i.e., effective interagency collaboration between police and health care providers), the prevention of future problems, and police officers' authority enhancing compliance. Perceived drawbacks included risk for legal consequences, stigma from police interaction, escalating distress of clients, low officer availability, and the risk for changing the nature of ACT teams. CONCLUSIONS Participants reported that the model of officer integration into ACT-PI teams may improve both client and staff well-being. In some communities, and with certain precautions, ACT-PI may be a viable model for ACT teams serving clients with and clients without a history of forensic involvement.
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Watson TM, Benassi PV, Agic B, Maharaj A, Sockalingam S. Addressing the complex substance use and mental health needs of people leaving prison: Insights from developing a national inventory of services in Canada. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DRUG POLICY 2021; 100:103523. [PMID: 34785421 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Revised: 10/23/2021] [Accepted: 10/27/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Internationally, transitions from prison to the community are often precarious experiences for people who are living with substance use and mental health concerns. In Canada, a continuing opioid overdose crisis and overlapping challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic have generated urgency for scaling up community-based services that can meet the complex substance use and mental health needs of people leaving prison. In this commentary, we reflect on our experience with and knowledge gained by developing a national inventory of substance use and mental health services for criminal justice-involved persons who are re-entering the community. We learned that there is a scarcity of such community-based services specific to criminal justice-involved populations and a glaring lack of information about culturally safe and appropriate supports. Stakeholders from organisations across Canada identified that communities need a comprehensive array of low-barrier services, inclusive of harm reduction and substance use treatment services, to meet the diverse needs of people leaving prison. We recommend building greater investment in and awareness of community-driven, local programs, as well as enhancing efforts to engage people with lived and living experience in service design and provision. We also briefly describe a few programs to highlight examples of how to operationalise the themes that we observed to emerge while developing a national inventory of community-based substance use and mental health services for criminal justice-involved persons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tara Marie Watson
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), 1000 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON, M6J 1H4, Canada.
| | - Paul Victor Benassi
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), 1000 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON, M6J 1H4, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, 250 College Street, 8th floor, Toronto, ON, M5T 1R8, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, Toronto, ON, M5T 3M7, Canada
| | - Branka Agic
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), 1000 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON, M6J 1H4, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, Toronto, ON, M5T 3M7, Canada
| | - Asha Maharaj
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), 1000 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON, M6J 1H4, Canada
| | - Sanjeev Sockalingam
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), 1000 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON, M6J 1H4, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, 250 College Street, 8th floor, Toronto, ON, M5T 1R8, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, 1 King's College Circle, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A8, Canada
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