• Am J Prev Med · Nov 2021

    Impact of a Prison Therapeutic Diversion Unit on Mental and Behavioral Health Outcomes.

    • Molly Remch, Charles Mautz, Emily G Burke, Gary Junker, Andrea Kaniuka, Scott Proescholdbell, Stephen W Marshall, and Rebecca B Naumann.
    • Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Electronic address: mremch@email.unc.edu.
    • Am J Prev Med. 2021 Nov 1; 61 (5): 619-627.

    IntroductionIncarcerated individuals with mental health disorders are disproportionally sent to restrictive housing (i.e., solitary confinement), which is known to have deleterious impacts on mental health. In response, North Carolina's prison system developed Therapeutic Diversion Units, treatment-oriented units for incarcerated individuals with high mental health needs who cycle in and out of restrictive housing. This analysis compares the impact of restrictive housing and Therapeutic Diversion Units on infractions, mental health, and self-harm among incarcerated individuals.MethodsData were 2016-2019 incarceration records from North Carolina prisons. Outcomes were rates of infractions, inpatient mental health admissions, and self-harm in restrictive housing and Therapeutic Diversion Units. Inverse probability of treatment weights was used to adjust for confounding, and Poisson regression with generalized estimating equations was used to estimate adjusted rate ratios. Analyses were conducted between January and December 2020.ResultsThe analytic sample was 3,480 people, of whom 463 enrolled in a Therapeutic Diversion Unit. Compared with Therapeutic Diversion Unit rates, the rate of infractions was 3 times as high in restrictive housing (adjusted rate ratio=2.99, 95% CI=2.31, 3.87), the inpatient mental health admissions rate was 3.5 times as high (adjusted rate ratio=3.57, 95% CI=1.97, 6.46), and the self-injury incident rate was 3.5 times as high (adjusted rate ratio=3.46, 95% CI=2.11, 5.69).ConclusionsTherapeutic Diversion Unit use had strong impacts on infractions, mental health, and self-harm. Therapeutic Diversion Units provide a promising alternative to restrictive housing for individuals with mental health disorders.Copyright © 2021 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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