Office of Clinical Services and Incarcerated Individual Health

The Office of Clinical Services and Incarcerated Individual Health, under the authority of the Assistant Secretary of Programs, Treatment, and Reentry, is responsible for the provision of treatment to incarcerated individuals under the control and custody of the Department. Healthcare treatment is delivered in an integrated fashion to address the full range of needs and to ensure a continuum of care from the point of intake through incarceration, and release to the community. The healthcare services offered include: medical health, mental health, dental health, and substance use treatment that comport with community standards; treatment program opportunities to address criminal behavior; and release planning assistance to ensure continuity of care and continued treatment upon release. These services are provided through the following distinct treatment units:

Office of Incarcerated Individual Health

This unit oversees a health care delivery system that provides comprehensive primary, secondary, specialty health and hospitalization services to the pretrial populations. The healthcare system provides medical, psychiatric, dental, and pharmacy services consistent with generally accepted standards of care through competitively bid contractual relationships with private healthcare providers having expertise in their respective health discipline. Direct service clinical practitioners are located on site, in numbers and type, consistent with the needs of the population. The services delivered by these practitioners and the performance of the private healthcare providers are continually monitored by the staff of the Office of Clinical Services and Incarcerated Individual Health to ensure contract compliance and quality of care. For more detailed information on the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, go to Procurement.

Mental Health

This unit oversees the delivery of mental health services to ensure a continuum of care and a comprehensive service system that includes acute inpatient, long-term residential, step-down, out-patient and transitional care. Psychologists are located in every geographical region of the State to: treat the seriously mentally ill, respond to mental health crises, and provide routine as well as follow-up counseling services to the incarcerated individuals. These clinicians work together with the private psychiatric services provider to ensure that the mental health needs of the incarcerated individuals are met in the most clinically appropriate manner.

Social Work Services

The primary mission of this unit of licensed bachelor or master degree level social workers is to assist incarcerated individuals with special needs in developing a plan for continued treatment upon release. Release planning is provided to anyone with a serious medical or mental health need, long-term incarceration, or in situations of extreme antisocial behavior where release represents a public threat. Social Work also provides individual and group interventions to incarcerated individuals to assist them with: adjustment to incarceration or other difficult situations, their desire for life changes, and preparation for reentry into society.

Substance Abuse Treatment Services

The substance use disorder treatment unit oversees a system of therapeutic care that is conducive to treating all levels of addiction. These services include modified therapeutic communities for incarcerated individuals with a higher addiction risk, intensive outpatient for moderate addiction, and aftercare reinforcement and relapse prevention. The goal of these cognitively-based treatment modalities is to provide incarcerated individuals with skill building techniques which will enable them to change their behavior and cope with high risk situations for substance use and criminal behavior throughout their lives.