Cowell Alexander J, Hinde Jesse M, Broner Nahama, Aldridge Arnie P
RTI International, 3040 Cornwallis Road, P.O. Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, United States.
Eval Program Plann. 2013 Dec;41:31-7. doi: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2013.07.001. Epub 2013 Jul 15.
Mental illness is prevalent among those incarcerated. Jail diversion is one means by which people with mental illness are treated in the community - often with some criminal justice system oversight - instead of being incarcerated. Jail diversion may lead to immediate reductions in taxpayer costs because the person is no longer significantly engaged with the criminal justice system. It may also lead to longer term reductions in costs because effective treatment may ameliorate symptoms, reduce the number of future offenses, and thus subsequent arrests and incarceration. This study estimates the impact on taxpayer costs of a model jail diversion program for people with serious mental illness. Administrative data on criminal justice and treatment events were combined with primary and secondary data on the costs of each event. Propensity score methods and a quasi-experimental design were used to compare treatment and criminal justice costs for a group of people who were diverted to a group of people who were not diverted. Diversion was associated with approximately $2800 lower taxpayer costs per person 2 years after the point of diversion (p<.05). Reductions in criminal justice costs drove this result. Jail diversion for people with mental illness may thus be justified fiscally.
精神疾病在被监禁人群中很普遍。监狱分流是一种让患有精神疾病的人在社区接受治疗的方式——通常在刑事司法系统的一些监督下——而不是被监禁。监狱分流可能会立即降低纳税人的成本，因为此人不再与刑事司法系统有大量接触。它还可能导致长期成本降低，因为有效的治疗可能会改善症状，减少未来犯罪的数量，从而减少随后的逮捕和监禁。本研究估计了一个针对严重精神疾病患者的示范监狱分流项目对纳税人成本的影响。将刑事司法和治疗事件的行政数据与每个事件成本的主要和次要数据相结合。倾向得分方法和准实验设计被用于比较一组被分流的人与一组未被分流的人的治疗成本和刑事司法成本。分流后两年，分流与每人约2800美元的纳税人成本降低相关（p<0.05）。刑事司法成本的降低推动了这一结果。因此，从财政角度来看，为患有精神疾病的人进行监狱分流可能是合理的。
