Prisoners With Special Needs

Prisons are made up of several types of offenders, however within the prison populations, there are those offenders which make up the special needs category or those who are known for substance abuse. The reason why these special need inmates affect the jail and prison system, both on a federal and state level would be because of the specialized attention in which they require. If these prisoners are not given the proper attention that is needed for their disability, they can because a danger to not only themselves but to everyone around them; those who have a substance abuse related illness may even become sick and possibly die from lack of care for their addiction.

The way that special needs inmates affect both the state and federal prison is mostly due to the financial burden, these inmates require much more than the regular prison therefore more money is needed to care for them. Some require special facilities for their illness or special need and this can end up costing the state or federal government millions of dollars. Take a look at those prisoners suffering from mental illness or substance abuse, these prisoners require psychiatric help and that alone costs the states a whole lot of money. It was reported back in 2006 through the Bureau of Justice Statistics that there were approximately 705, 600 mentally ill inmates in the state prison, about 479, 900 I the local jail or counties and approximately 78,000 who were in federal prison; with these staggering numbers however, the rate in which mentally ill prisoners are jailed continues to increase.

Prisoners with mental illness are required to have access to psychiatric health, medications and whatever therapy there is being offered for their mental illness; they are also required to be kept away from the general population to ensure that they are not a danger to themselves and the other inmates. Those with a substance abuse problem also require special attention through drug treatment programs, medical care that is targeted to treat their specific addiction and any mental health treatment programs designed for them. Those prisoners with a history of substance abuse issues must also be kept a watchful eye on to ensure that they do not get the chance to access any drugs or medications while in prison.

Due to their issues with substance abuse, these prisoners can end up being put away again upon their release from prison due to having a higher chance at abusing drugs again. The treatment that both mentally ill inmates and those known for substance abuse is an extremely important step that is required while incarcerated to reduce the chances of being put away upon their release; however many prisoners cannot continue to receive the proper help and care that is needed once they have been release causing them to be re-offenders.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons came up with a program to treat drug abuse over twenty years ago and it is known to be the longest program that the Bureau has had within its course in history. There have been studies done to test how the drug treatments within prison are done and they have been found to be extremely effective in the reduction of a drug relapse. It has also been shown to reduce criminal behaviors associated with mental and substance abuse with the increase of  educational needs and in some cases employment once they have returned back to society. The strategies in which the Federal Bureau of Prison uses to ensure that these criminals suffering from mental illness or drug addiction are well taken care of would be through Drug Abuse Education, Regional Transitional Drug Treatment, Residential and Nonresidential Drug Abuse Programs and Community Drug Abuse Treatment. These different treatments and strategies are put in place to reduce the urge of wanting drugs and to overcome the temptation that comes along with it.

Living in the state of Georgia, it is good to know what services are offered to those suffering from substance abuse. The Georgia Department of Corrections offers services for those inmates who are suffering from substance abuse. They have an educated staff of individuals who have been trained on the behaviors associated with substance abuse and how to treat them. They are taught that each offender must be treated differently according to their needs in order to be successful with their drug treatment.

In order for the treatment to be of success it is very important to know how to spot and treat those suffering from it. A prisoner cannot be treated for substance abuse today and be expected to be cured by tomorrow. These types of offenders require specialized round the clock treatment that last for a long enough period of time in order for the changes to be long term and for a change to be notices. These prisoners must be monitored closely to ensure that the treatment is working and that they do not have a relapse during treatment by gaining access to drugs. In order for them to truly be successful, those prisoners re-entering society must continue their drug treatment once they’ve been released.