Psychiatry & Psychology | By July 10, 2008 | By Ben UllmanncloseBen Ullmann Name: Ben Ullmann
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About: Mr. Ullmann is a Research Fellow in the Crime & Justice Unit at Policy Exchange. He graduated with joint honors in Mathematics & Philosophy from the University of Bristol in 2006 and served as President of its Students Union for a year before joining Policy Exchange. His previous work includes Unlocking the prison estate, an economic analysis of rebuilding the prison estate. He also takes a keen interest in the world of behavioral economics. | 0 Comments

The State of Mental Healthcare in Prison

A new report by Policy Exchange reveals over a third of spending on mental health services in prison is wasted and calls for a drastic overhaul in treating mental health in prisons, including mandatory training for prison officers.

Mental healthcare in prisons is widely overlooked as being a problem in the justice system, with overcrowding and high costs trumping mental health for column inches. Yet experts agree that there in a link between mental illness and reoffending in the community. In the latest Policy Exchange report, Out of Sight, Out of Mind, leading experts say that it is time policy makers woke up to the realities of mental healthcare in prisons, and the report authors suggest that only a small reduction in re-offending rates would make a tripling of the prison mental healthcare budget cost effective. Read more →