Changing Outcomes in Jail? Evaluating Treatment Completion and Change Among Adults With Serious Mental Illness

Jail offers an important opportunity to treat psychiatric symptoms and criminogenic risk among people with serious mental illness (SMI), although the evidence base for these programs is limited. We implemented a 9-session cognitive behavioral group program for men and women with SMI in one county jail ( n = 75). We tested predictors of treatment completion and evaluated the program’s effectiveness in producing change in mental illness and criminogenic risk from before to after treatment. No strong predictors of treatment completion emerged. Participants demonstrated significant improvements in psychiatric distress, well-being, and self-management of mental illness. Although not statistically significant, participants’ reactive or impulsive criminal thinking and frequency of disciplinary infractions also reduced across treatment. Post hoc analyses show treatment improvement was not associated with participants’ demographics. These results offer preliminary evidence that this brief program can be effective for people with SMI at a critical juncture of their legal involvement.