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Abstract: 

The series of three articles starting on page 19 began with a single, sharply focused idea: invite clinicians I know who are quite experienced in the area of correctional mental health to identify and briefly discuss “model” or simply “very good” correctional mental health programs that they have encountered in their work. Drs. Charles L. Scott and Brian Holoyda (page 19), Terry A. Kupers (page 21), and Pablo Stewart (page 23) responded affirmatively.These psychiatrists are not merely visible and prominent in their field, they are highly experienced in such activities as serving on monitoring teams, doing expert reports on various systems, serving as experts, teaching and writing. Each of these experts asked if they might approach the invitation in a somewhat different fashion. My old friend in all of this, Terry Kupers, said bluntly, “I don’t know of any state that does it right.” Pablo Stewart also stated that he does not know of a “good” correctional mental health system, let alone a “best.” Charles Scott indicated an insufficient basis for comment as the question was phrased, but he was interested in describing how affiliation of a penal facility with a medical school program could lay the groundwork for badly needed “model” programs. Drs. Scott and Holoyda make a strong case for using correctional settings as training and education environments for medical students.

Keywords: Correctional Mental Health Quality

Affiliations:  1: Executive Editor; 2: University of California, Davis; 3: University of California, Davis; 4: The Wright Institute; 5: Psychiatric Consultant.