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CORRECTIONS MENTAL
  HEALTH SERVICES

Mental Health Services
Wendy Scanlon / Julie Kalina-Hammond
Mental Health Counselors NEIGHBORING

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.

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.

      2005 Annual Report

The year 2005 held in store many changes for the mental health department. 

The team experienced two staff losses and one addition all the while still trying to maintain the best level of care for the mentally ill forensic population. 

The team’s former psychiatrist, Dr. Gary Waltz, resigned his position in June of 2005.  This position was temporarily filled by Dr. Kurt Bertschinger, until the arrival of Laura DeHelian PhD, APRN, BC in mid-September.   There was psychiatric coverage for 46 out of 52 weeks in 2005, as compared to 48 out of 52 weeks in the year 2004. 

Another significant loss was that of Jon Hapner, one of the two mental health consultants stationed in the jail.  This loss has led to a slight shift in job responsibilities, bringing Julie Kalina-Hammond, Criminal Justice Supervisor, over to the jail more frequently to help meet the needs of the mentally ill who are incarcerated. 

            The mental health staff received a total of 1,734 referrals for the year 2005, 113 less referrals than in 2004.    The referrals received came from the following sources:  corrections officers, email, medical staff, family members, JTP, inmate request forms, phone calls, probation officers, outside mental health agencies, and direct requests from inmates to mental health staff.  Figure 1 shows the distribution of referral sources as well as the number of referrals that came from each source.  As can be seen, a majority of referrals came from inmate request forms/self, followed by referrals from correctional staff.  The category titled “other,” accounts for five percent of the total referrals. This category combines referrals from phone calls, family members, attorneys, etc. 

            Figure 2 highlights the reasons why a particular individual was referred to the mental health department.  As was the case in 2004, a majority of the referrals were to speak with a mental health consultant (MHC).  This was followed by requests to see the psychiatrist or for medications, an area that has increased by four percent in comparison to 2004.  The number of inmates referred for suicidal risk decreased by one percent, while requests to attend the Women’s Peer Support Group remained the same as the year prior, holding at a steady three percent.  The category of “other” pertains to all other referrals, i.e.- to be cleared for general population, court evaluation, request to move to a different range, etc.

            Figure 3 offers a comparison of the number of women who attended the Women’s Inmate Support Group each month for the years 2004 and 2005.  The average number of women per month attending group in 2004 was 7.75, compared to 7.6 women in 2005.  A total of 44 different women attended this group during 2005, and of these 44 women, 8 were re-incarcerated in the Lake County Jail following their attendance in group.  In addition to the 44 different women who attended this group, an additional 42 were referred to the group but did not attend due to refusal, release, or entering into JTP. 

            The MHC’s spent a total of 274.4 hours working face to face with clients.  A total of 217.6 of these hours were spent face to face with 269 different individuals.  An additional 56.8 hours were spent face to face with individuals who were listed as untracked, meaning that they would only be seen once or not require additional mental health services.  In addition to the time spent face to face with individuals, MHC’s spent a total of 574.7 hours consulting with other professionals regarding clients.  These numbers combined total 849.1hours of direct service time for both MHC’s.  (Note: The numbers calculated are based on the services provided from Jan. 1, 2005 to Dec. 31, 2005; however, statistics from Nov. 1, 2005 through Dec. 31, 2005 are based on services provided by one MHC only.) Of the 269 clients, a total of 12 were pink slipped, three of these being pink slipped upon his/her release from jail.

            Between Dr. Waltz, Dr. Bertschinger, and Laura DeHelian, a total of 232 different individuals were seen a total of 399 times, that is 30 individuals less and 62 times less than in 2004.  The total number of consultations equals 19, as compared to 32 in 2004.  Between these three professional, a total of 194.7 hours was spent face to face with clients compared to 182 ¼ hours last year.

Figure 4 shows the most recent medications prescribed as well as how often they were prescribed, note, however that this does not include medications that were discontinued.  There were 42 instances, compared to 35 cases in 2004, where people were seen but were not prescribed psychotropic medications.  As has been the case in previous years, Seroquel was one of the most frequently prescribed medications, which was often used for either sleep or stabilization of psychosis.  Trazodone, an anti-depressant medication that provides a sedating effect, was prescribed roughly as much as many of the other anti-depressants, whereas in 2004 it was the second most prescribed medication next to Seroquel.  The most common medications prescribed were anti-depressants, not including Trazodone, followed by anti-psychotics, not including Seroquel. 

            Figure 5 illustrates the type of diagnoses as well as the frequency that it was given.   There were a total of 281 actual diagnoses given, with many individuals receiving more than one diagnosis.  In 34 of these cases, the diagnoses were questionable or needed to be ruled out.  There were a total of 21 individuals who received no diagnosis at all, the same as in 2004.  Mood disorders were the most common diagnosis given followed by psychotic disorders.  Anxiety disorders and adjustment disorders tied for the third most frequently diagnosed disorders at 7%, however the category of “No Dx,” (no diagnosis), also accounted for 7%.  The category of “other” counts only three diagnoses given, two delusional disorders and one eating disorder.

            A majority of those who received mental health services, 67% to be more precise, were residents of Lake County (See Figure 6).  Within Lake County, the majority of individuals receiving mental health services were residents of Painesville, followed by Mentor, the same as in 2004 (See Figure 7).  Of those individuals who received psychiatric services, the majority were Caucasian males, followed by Caucasian females (See Figure 8).  It is important to note that although the decrease in the number of inmates seen by the psychiatrist, 2004 vs. 2005, led to a decrease in the overall numbers for race and gender, both the number of Hispanic males and Caucasian females increased while all other categories decreased. 

            The mental health criminal justice team continues to strive to provide the best services possible within our scope of practice to the mentally ill inmate.  The search continues to find a second mental health consultant to better enable the team to continue to provide quality services to those in need.  Neighboring will also be searching for a Community Liaison Worker whose job it will be to facilitate support and linkage for incarcerated women re-entering the community.  In the meantime, the remaining team members continue to educate staff, courts, and the community about mental illness with the hope of increasing understanding and decreasing the stigma associated with mental illness.