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Lake County Jail Mental Health Services
Wendy Scanlon /  Matt Kocsis  /  Julie Kalina-Hammond
Mental Health Counselors NEIGHBORING 

        The jail system has two full-time Mental health Consultants and a part-time psychiatrist employed by Neighboring.  These two mental health counselors are responsible for the screening of incoming prisoners for significant psychological issues and illnesses, whether it be from depression, suicide risk, schizophrenia, bipolar disorders or any other form of psychological illness or distress.  They screen and prioritize those inmates needing to see the psychiatrist who may evaluate them a determine a treatment which includes possible medications.  The counselors also supervise the placements of inmates into the designated mental health/special needs housing unit.  Further, they respond to inmates in mental health crises, as well as monitoring the status of inmates on the mental health caseload, including those referred by the Lake County Courts.

About the Staff

Wendy Scanlon, MSSA, LSW has been with Neighboring since April 2003.  She earned her Associates degree from Lakeland Community College, her Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice from lake Erie College, and her Master's Degree in Social Work from Case Western Reserve University.    She interned in sentencing mitigation, probation, case management and group counseling.

Matt Kocsis, MSW, LSW has been with Neighboring since June 2006. He earned his Master of Social Work Degree from Cleveland State University. Before coming to Neighboring and the Lake County Jail he was employed with Bellefaire JCB providing in home therapy to “at risk youth” and Community Re-Entry providing adult re-entry services to the formally incarcerated.

Julie Kalina-Hammond, MSSA, LISW, CCDC has been with neighboring since May of 2000,  She serves as the team leader and supervisor for Neighboring's Criminal Justice team.  She also serves as the treatment manager for the Lake County Mental Health Court under Judge Trebets.  She earned her Master's degree in Social Work from Case Western Reserve University.

Maureen O'Hara, B.S., M.A. serves as the Community Liaison for the WITTS program (Women in Transition Through Support).  Maureen has been with Neighboring since March of 2006.  She earned her Bachelor's and master's degrees in Criminal Justice from the University of Toledo.  She also interned with federal Pretrial and the Toloedo Correctional institute.
 

2008 Annual Report – Neighboring Mental Health Services

The staff within the mental health department has, for the most part, remained the same throughout the year.  There continues to be two mental health consultants (MHC) present at the jail five days a week in addition to a psychiatrist that comes to the jail once a week for four hours.   The mental health staff was also fortunate to have a student intern from January until the end of July 08 to assist the MHC’s with linkage and referral for clients upon release from jail.  This is slightly different in comparison to last year when staff found themselves operating with one MHC the last three months of the year.  Also, throughout most of 2007 an APRN was on staff but was replaced by a psychiatrist toward the end of the year.

            The mental health staff received a total of 1,486 in 2008, which were 125 more referrals than in 2007.  It is important to mention that many of the referrals received were on some of the same individuals and that just because mental health staff received 1,486 referrals that does not necessarily mean that there were 1,486 different people referred. Figure 1 shows the distribution of referral sources for the year of 2007 as well as 2008.  While the total number of referrals for the year has increased, perhaps the most notable increase is in the area of emails, while the most obvious decrease was in referrals made by medical staff.   Mental health staff still received the majority of referrals from inmate request forms, referrals from corrections officers (CO’s), emails, followed by referrals from “other” sources, medical staff,  the Jail Treatment Program (JTP), community mental health agencies (CMHA), and probation officers, respectively.  The number of inmate request forms and referrals from CO’s declined slightly, while referrals from JTP, CMHA’s and PO’s rose slightly.  The most significant increases were in the area of emails and referrals from “other” sources, which includes referrals from family members, phone calls, attorneys, courts, etc.

Figure 2 compares the reasons for referral between 2007 and 2008.  In addition to the total number of referrals for the year increasing, the percentage of people who wanted to speak with a MHC increased as well in comparison to 2007 (sixty-two percent in 2007 compared to sixty-six percent of total referrals in 2008).  Also of interest is the decline in the percentage of those who were requesting to see the doctor for medications, however slight.  Twenty-nine percent of the referrals in 2007 were for the doctor/medications while only twenty-five percent of referrals were made for this reason in 2008.  Although the percentage of the total referrals made for suicide risk remained the same for both years, at five percent, the actual number of referrals for suicide risk increased by twenty four in the year 2008.  Referrals for the Anger Management Group accounted for three percent of the referrals in 2007 and two percent in 2008, however, due to lack of willing participants the Anger Management Group was discontinued in March.

            In 2008, the mental health staff met with approximately 353 different people and spent a total of 361.10 hours working with individuals face to face.  This is an increase of 67 people from last year, however, added into this years numbers were “untracked” clients meaning that the individual was seen on one or two occasions and further follow up was not anticipated.  A total of 122.70 hours was spent consulting with other professionals and family members regarding clients, which is an increase of 20 hours compared to 2007.  A total of 74.10 hours was spent conducting groups, both the anger management group and a coping skills group that was conducted on the mental health range from the end of February until the beginning of July 2008.  Of the 353 people seen, 15 people were referred for emergency admission to a medical/mental health facility (pink slipped), which is 2 more than in the year 2007. 

            Dr. Ruth Martin M.D. saw a total of 173 different people a total of 364 times, that is approximately the same number of individuals seen as in 2007, but 53 more visits than last year. The total number of consultations was 7, which was a decrease of 9 compared to 2007.  A total of 100.2 hours was spent face to face with clients compared to 92.3 hours last year.  There was psychiatric coverage for 44 out of 52 weeks, which is 1 week more than in 2007, in addition, Dr. Martin came to the jail at one other time on an emergency basis.

Figure 3 shows the most recent medications prescribed as well as how often they were prescribed, however this does not include medications that were discontinued.  There were 12 instances, compared to 28 cases in 2007, where people were seen but were not prescribed psychotropic medications.  Whereas Seroquel was prescribed in only 2 instances in 2007 due to concerns over possible abuse of the drug, the extended release version of Seroquel was introduced and used in 29 cases in 2008.  The most common medications prescribed were anti-depressants/anti-anxiety which accounts for thirty-seven percent of the medications prescribed compared to forty percent in 2007. This was followed by anti-psychotics at thirty-five percent compared to thirty-four percent in 2007, and anticonvulsants/mood stabilizers at twenty-five percent compared to twenty-two percent in 2007.

            Figure 4 illustrates the type of diagnoses as well as the frequency that it was given.   There were a total of 370 actual diagnoses given compared to 320 in 2007, with many individuals receiving more than one diagnosis.  There were a total of 3 individuals who received no diagnosis at all, compared to 4 in 2007.  Mood disorders continue to be the disorder most frequently diagnosed.  The second most common diagnosis was in the category of substance abuse/dependency, which was also the case in 2007, however, there were forty-nine more substance abuse/dependency diagnoses given in 2008 compared to 2007.  Another notable difference between 2007 and 2008 is that personality disorders were the third most common diagnosis in 2008, whereas psychotic disorders were the third most common diagnosis in 2007.  There was a decline in anxiety disorders,

ADHD/conduct disorders, and impulse control disorders, with a slight decline in the “other” category that includes such diagnoses as eating disorders and mental retardation.  The percentage of those diagnosed with adjustment disorders remained the same for both years.

            Figure 5 illustrates that sixty-five percent of those who received mental health services were residents of Lake County,  compared to sixty-nine percent of the sample in 2007 (See Figure 5).  Within Lake County, the majority of individuals receiving mental health services were residents of Painesville, followed by Mentor, the same as in 2007 (See Figure 6).  As was the case in 2007 the majority of individuals who received psychiatric services were Caucasian males, followed by Caucasian females although there was a slight increase in the number of African American males seen in 2008 (See Figure 7). 

            Overall the data continues to show a need for mental health services within this growing population.  Last year mental health staff set a goal to focus more on development and implementation of discharge planning for the severely mentally ill, while continuing to focus primarily on providing crisis intervention to the inmates at the Lake County Jail.  Staff plans to continue this goal into 2009 as such planning is desperately needed. Although the Anger Management Group was discontinued in 2008 due to lack of willing participants, mental health staff are in the process of exploring other topics of interest to offer in a group format. 

2007 Annual Report – Neighboring Mental Health Services

 2006 Annual Report – Neighboring Mental Health Services